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.
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.