I have seen quite a few Minnesota Vikings games this season, as well as a few Indianapolis Colts and New Orleans Saints games, and I have one thing to say. Adrian Peterson is being misused. Yes, Adrian Peterson- the most fear running back in the entirety of football- is being grossly under utilized by Brett Favre and the Vikings despite the fact that they are 7-1 and sitting atop the NFC Central in the NFL standings.
I say this because I have watch the Vikings limp through enough games to see that the offense is utterly unimaginative. I mentioned before that I have seen a few New Orleans Saints and Indianapolis Colts games not only because they are undefeated, but because of the way they use their running backs. They routinely dump passes off to them and those dump off passes have gone for big yards or been just as effective as a run up the middle.
Anybody that looks at the Vikings season stats will see that Favre also likes the little pass to the running back, only that running back is Chester Taylor, not Adrian Peterson. When Peterson has gotten the ball on a little dump off he has been a monster, averaging 9.9 yards a reception. Still, he has just 19 catches in eight games.
Why has he not gotten the ball more? It is not like he is being saved because he is getting overworked running the ball. He is averaging only 20.3 carries a game. I have seen him go entire quarters with just one or two touches. This is ridiculous. Favre has the league’s scariest offensive weapon, a running back that tears through the jungle of defenders like a madman with a machete. He cannot be brought to the ground by a defensive back trying to arm tackle him, yet I see him rarely getting to the outside to terrorize these diminutive players.
I liken this wide receiver Andre Rison’s experience with the Cleveland Browns in 1995. Rison was a playmaker that made the Pro Bowl four times in his first six seasons in the NFL with the Colts and the Atlanta Falcons. In 1995 he signed a one-year deal with the Browns and his numbers dropped to then career lows. The Browns were using him as a diversion. It pissed Rison off and started a civil war between the Browns fans and the receiver
Peterson is being used as a diversion as well, and I want see him angry. This diversionary tactic has not always worked. There have been more than few quarters and even games that have kind of clunked along as Peterson has been forgotten in the backfield or has simply stayed on the sidelines for half the downs. Obviously, the Vikes are not going to finish 5-11 like those Browns (also the last season the original Browns played in Cleveland), but they are undefeated either.
Imagine if the Vikings used Peterson like the Colts and Peyton Manning use Joseph Addai. Give Peterson four or more chances to catch the ball out of the backfield and watch as the linebacker covering him defecates as Peterson runs him over and reaches the secondary with malice.
I say this not only because I have Adrian Peterson on my fantasy team and would like to not regret picking him first, but because I think the Minnesota Vikings would immediately become a favorite to win the Super Bowl.
I suspect that Brett Favre has something to do with this. As much as he says he is happy to be a team player, he is a star and drew mockery for his very public waffling the last two summers. The reality is that this guy likes attention and he likes being a star. I would not be surprised to read a player’s or beat reporter’s account in a couple years stating that he sabotaged Peterson’s numbers for his own personal glory.
Of course, keep in mind, that I am a Bears fan and have an undying hate for the Packers and Favre, so perhaps this is my imagination playing a trick on me.