This might not be the best time for dissension in the Vikings locker room. The team has lost two of its last three, including a humbling 38-7 defeat against the Seahawks at home on Sunday, and travels to Arizona for a Thursday Night Football game.
Yet Adrian Peterson wasn’t about to back down from his comments suggesting the Vikings were “outcoached” Sunday, according to ESPN.com.
This dust-up isn’t as bad as it seems, and it doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things because the Vikings are in the middle of a quick turnaround and have no time for controversy.
“I came in Monday with a smile on my face ready to roll.” – @AdrianPeterson
— Minnesota Vikings (@Vikings) December 8, 2015
Peterson ran the ball eight times for 18 yards Sunday, both season lows. The Vikings trailed 21-0 at halftime and 28-0 less than six minutes into the third quarter. So there came a time when they had to abandon the run in an attempt to score points quickly. But could Peterson have been used more early in the game?
The Vikings’ first two plays were Peterson runs, for four yards and three yards. Then Teddy Bridgewater was sacked by rookie Frank Clark and the Vikings had to punt.
Minnesota trailed 7-0 when Peterson lost a yard on a carry to start the Vikings’ next possession. Peterson caught a three-yard pass three plays later, but then Clark sacked Bridgewater again and Bridgewater threw an incomplete pass on third-and-12.
Peterson gained five yards to start the Vikings’ next series then caught a two-yard pass. The Vikings started to gain a little momentum when Bridgewater threw a 25-yard pass to Mike Wallace, but on the next play they lost six yards on an end around to Stefon Diggs.
Did the Vikings try to get too cute there? It’s hard to imagine the game turning out much differently if they had handed the ball to Peterson, who at that point had run the ball five times for just 10 yards. They eventually faced a third-and-16 on that drive and had to punt. Those third-and-longs made it difficult to put the ball in Peterson’s hands.
The Seahawks increased their lead to 14-0 and there were two minutes left in the half the next time the Vikings got the ball. They had to air it out and Bridgewater threw an interception that the Seahawks immediately turned into another touchdown.
It was pretty much time to scrap the game plan at that point.
All along Peterson has shared the blame, saying that he could have run for touchdowns on a couple of plays if he had run the ball in a different direction.
Peterson might have been a little hard on himself. This is the Seahawks defense. You can’t just order up a touchdown like you can a slice of pizza. He also was a little hard on the coaching staff. Mike Zimmer should be in the conversation for coach of the year.
The fact that he also called himself out took a little bit of an edge off Peterson’s post-game comments. There’s no reason for a firestorm here, especially not for a team that has just a three-day breather between games against two of the NFC’s elite teams.