Peterson's return a smashing success for surging Vikings
MINNEAPOLIS -- Wearing a brace on his right knee and playing for the first time in three weeks, Adrian Peterson was a bit hesitant on the first few plays of the game.
"I definitely wanted to go out and get that first hit and see how it felt," Peterson said Sunday.
Once he took a few shots from the Detroit Lions, some of which he felt were cheap, Peterson was off and running. So were the Minnesota Vikings in a 42-10 thrashing of their NFC North rivals.
The star rookie rushed for 116 yards and 2 touchdowns in less than three quarters of work, and quarterback Tarvaris Jackson continued his steady improvement to lead the surging Vikings (6-6) over the free-falling Lions (6-6).
"I got choked up a couple times, so it kind of pushed my buttons," Peterson said.
The favorite for Offensive Rookie of the Year showed he is back in a big way, but the Vikings suddenly appear much more than a one-man show.
In the last three weeks, Jackson has shown poise, an accurate arm and command of the offense that simply wasn't there early in the season, and Sunday was his best game yet. He was 18 of 24 for 204 yards and 2 touchdowns, and the Vikings scored TDs on their first six possessions to win their third in a row and fourth in the last five games.
Chester Taylor added 70 rushing yards and a TD for the Vikings.
"We feel like we're getting on a roll and we want to stay on that roll," Jackson said.
The roll has the Vikings back in the thick of the NFC playoff picture, thanks in large part to a November swoon by the Lions that has an all-too familiar feel for their long-suffering fans.
Jon Kitna threw for 260 yards and 1 touchdown for the Lions, who have lost four in a row to waste a 6-2 start. A month later, the Lions are looking more like the hapless Motor City Kitties who started the season with more losses than any team in the NFL over the last six years.
"Our boat's not very full, I know that. We don't have a lot of people left in our boat right now," Kitna said, referring to the sulking Lions locker room.
"I'm talking about us in general. We are not heading in the same direction right now, as a football team."