The Minnesota Vikings dismantled the San Diego Chargers yesterday, and perhaps the most important piece of the puzzle is running back Adrian Peterson.
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Vikings were up 10-0, but just before halftime, the Chargers get within three points, Phillip Rivers with a deep ball to Keenan Allen. With his team trailing 24-7 early in the fourth quarter, Rivers fired a pass to Stevie Johnson that bounced off his hands deep in Vikings territory.Key stat: Rivers took four sacks, leaving the Chargers outsacked on the season, 11-1.
Fluker sprained his left ankle in the season opener and missed last week’s game. Hairston limped out. Kenny Wiggins, who was cut a few weeks ago, became the third Charger right guard du jour. Tight end Kyle Rudolph finished the game with two catches for 14 yards and also dropped a touchdown pass in the end-zone. “It’s not on them at all. I’m probably in better shape than 80 percent of the guys that were out there, but I wasn’t able to really run the ball and recover like I was used to”.
There’s no bigger concern the team has going forward, unless you consider the resulting effect on the quarterback’s health.
“I picked (Dunlap) up and dumped him on his back”, Griffen said. “We’ve still got a long way to go”.
IT WAS OVER WHEN 14:17 – Looking towards the end zone, Rivers was intercepted by Chad Greenway who ran it back for a touchdown.
“‘Man, don’t let me get hit like that again, “‘ Munnerlyn said, quoting Rivers. The inside linebackers are having a tough time, especially with the front three – save Corey Liuget on occasion – being dominated. “He’s getting better each week, and he’s understanding more and more about the things that we’re asking him to do”.
He was replaced by Kellen Clemens on the next drive.
The Vikings weren’t sure if Adrian Peterson would show up for Sunday’s game against the Chargers after his wife gave birth earlier that morning. A handful of runs later, Peterson had the National Football League single-game rushing record with 296 yards.
“We’ve got a lot to clean up”, McCoy said. For a while we did a great job containing him to a certain extent. The Chargers were manhandled, perhaps not coincidentally, one week after McCoy called them “soft”. Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers threw for 246 yards on 21-of-34 passing with a touchdown and an interception.- Darrius Heyward-Bey of Pittsburgh (3 percent owned in Yahoo) had four catches for 77 yards and one score last weekend.In 2014, Peterson was suspended for almost the full duration of the season, following child abuse charges filed in Texas for allegedly using a wooden switch to discipline his 4-year-old son, appearing in just one Vikings game all year.
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When you have Philip Rivers under center for you, there’s always the chance of something awesome happening. We knew that we can get in there and be physical. “I think he went back to the old Adrian today”, he said. “We’ve been 1-2 before and won double digits”. Meanwhile, Marcus Sherels averaged 12.7 yards on three returns, while Cordarrelle Patterson averaged 26.5 yards on two kickoff returns.
