Editorial: Keep giving Peterson the ball

Published 12:00 am Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Vikings fans remember the high-powered aerial show of Cunningham to Carter and Culpepper to Moss. Now, the Vikes are a running team.

Vikings coach Brad Childress came to Minnesota last year with the West Coast offense. It&8217;s an offense with an emphasis on the passing game &8212; especially short passes.

However, if a team has the tools for the running game &8212; a top-notch offensive line with a great running back &8212; a coach must adjust accordingly. The West Coast offense can be tooled for a greater running game, with the passing game used to keep opponents guessing, and it appears that Childress did just that for the victory Sunday over the Chicago Bears.

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Finally!

This change in gameplan comes after critics slammed Childress for the dismal showing the Vikings had two weeks ago against the Green Bay Packers. The criticism was Childress wasn&8217;t using running back Adrian Peterson enough.

It turns out the critics were right. To Childress&8217; credit, he gave the ball to Peterson on Sunday, and the star athlete rushed for 224 yards. Sportswriters are calling it his &8220;breakout game.&8221; He even had electrifying runs of 67 and 73 yards for touchdowns.

We hope Peterson keeps it up &8212; and Childress keeps giving him the ball. It was refreshing to see the first-round draft pick being the workhorse scouts expected him to be.