Vikings RB Peterson could go on well with the team

The Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson has been reported to be unhappy with the team because they emphasized too much on quarterback Brett Favre. However, some analysts pointed out that the two sides could not be at odds and Peterson will just report for the training camp and play his best in the upcoming season.

With Favre’s arrival last offseason, Peterson got much less playing time because Favre’s favorite target was wide receiver Sidney Rice. The speculation was that Peterson may hold out if the team was to still have the quarterback in No.4 Brett Favre jersey. However, with Favre’s existence, Peterson’s production increased a lot last season despite several unforgivable fumbles. The running back must be able to recognize that and could not have complaints about Favre’s passing way.

Another speculation was that Peterson missed the OTAs to show his protest to the team’s special rule for Favre, just like what Titans running back Chris Johnson and other young star running backs did in the offseason. However that could not be the same in Peterson’s case. Peterson never admitted the unhappiness was his motive to skip OTAs. Instead, he proclaimed later to explain why he was absent, a move showing that he still took coach’s opinions serious.

There is little change to Vikings after the draft

While most of other teams tried to make the best use of their draft picks and acquire the most help to improve team, the Minnesota Vikings remained almost the same 12-4 team of last season when the 2010 NFL draft ended on Saturday afternoon. The addition of new players did not change the starting line much at all.

The Vikings even did not pick a quarterback at all although there were pretty good choices when it turned to them for choice. It seemed that they are determined to wait until Brett Favre makes his final decision to set the starting quarterback of 2010 season. They added cornerback, running back, defensive end, guard, linebacker, wide receiver, tight end and linebacker, none of which seemed to be the team’s urgent need. Even though the selection of cornerback Chris Cook and running back Toby Gerhart was taken as smart move, they are just not likely to play import roles as the team already has a group of cornerbacks with Antoine Winfield, Cedric Griffin and Lito Sheppard, and one of the best running backs in league with Adrian Peterson.

What makes some more sense than other picks is the addition of a rookie running back as the Vikings just lost backup running back Chester Taylor, who took off his No. 29 Vikings jersey and joined the Chicago Bears earlier this month. So Gerhart probably will have a good chance to play as a secondary running back behind Peterson and obtain some starting experience in case Peterson has to be out with injury or something.

Steelers still seeking ways to slow down Vikings RB Peterson

In order to keep their 100-yard streak, the Pittsburgh Steelers must find a way to slow down the Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson, who gained 180 yards against the Cleveland Browns and 143 yards against the Baltimore Ravens.

To beat the unbeaten 6-0 Vikings on Sunday seems like an impossible task for the six-time Super Bowl Champion team Steelers. Vikings quarterback Brett Favre remains one of the NFL’s prolific passers, and Peterson’s 624 yards rushing lead the NFL and his 5.16 yards per carry average through 36 career games is the highest in NFL history at that stage of a career.

But the Steelers have their own confidence. Steelers Coach Mike Tomlin refused to call Peterson the NFL’s best running back. The team itself is No. 2 against the run and managed to limit No. 2 rusher Chris Johnson of the Tennessee Titans to 57 yards and No. 3 rusher Bengals’ Cedric Benson, who is the first to break the Baltimore Ravens’ 100-yard streak this season, to 76 yards. They have kept the 100-yard streak for 24 regular season games and find no reason to back away from the challenge of rusher in the Vikings jersey.