Peterson Injury Highlights Viking Weaknesses
With all eyes of the NFL Nation on Adrian Peterson this week expecting to see more examples of all-time greatness as we saw last week, we instead saw the frightening worry surrounding this player's durability. Which is unfair, considering the hit he took to his knee was one to lay even the most durable low. Still, with the concerns over his long-term health and the immense amount of promise built up by the first half of the season, it was a jarring moment. Luckily for Peterson and those that love watching great running backs, the injury looks to be only a matter of a few lost weeks in what looks to be a stellar career. In fact, it may have saved his career.
I say this because when you looked at the Vikings last week, one saw a worrying trend. The Vikings have absolutely no passing offense, and rather than attempt to find one, it appeared they were simply compelled to lean more and more on Peterson in the running game. Certainly there's a tendency to go with what works in the NFL, but the early concerns over Peterson's frail (by perception and from college injuries) body seemed to have been abandoned in Minnesota over the last couple weeks.
Peterson was on a pace to break records, but he may well have been on pace to irrevocably break his body also. The modern NFL certainly isn't kind to running backs, evidenced by the trend of tandem backs popping up everywhere. Look around the league at feature backs who have been around at least three years: Shaun Alexander, out. Deuce McAllister, out. Larry Johnson, out. Even the seemingly indestructible LaDanian Tomlinson isn't looking like his peak self. Running back is not an enviable position these days, and it seems the lifespan of even the great ones is getting shorter and shorter.
If the Vikings want to hitch their rebuilding to Peterson in the long-term, the need to use this incident as a warning and protect him for the future. If you look that Vikings on field, it's clear they need Peterson's legs. If you look at their website, it's clear they need the cash Peterson merchandise brings in. They need, obviously, to work on the passing game in his absence and beyond in order to stop the defensive focus on him and him alone. They need to be able to take reps off his legs by getting some positive yardage in the air. Either Bollinger needs to get really good really fast, or they need to get someone else in at Quarterback.
All this assumes that Peterson's knee is alright, and from all indications so far it isn't very severe, consisting of a partial tear to a lateral ligament. Certainly not as bad as recent ligament tears in the NFL the last three years, but every injury is unique and I certainly hope his heals and allows him to play his game. Peterson himself should take this time to visit some retired greats at his position and get some pointers on how to save his body for the long-term, a suggestion voiced by many, including Steve Young. I share his concern. This is an amazingly talented, physical running back who doesn't shy away from contact and puts every last bit of his body into every last inch of field. I certainly hope he comes back from this injury at 100%, able to play his game to the best of his ability and to continue to do so for many years.
