Adrian Peterson rushed for 212 yards and one touchdown to help earn the Minnesota Vikings a much needed 36-22 victory over the St. Louis Rams.

Peterson, cut through St. Louis’ defense in the second quarter for an 82-yard touchdown score tying his season long he set just two weeks ago against the Green Bay Packers. This is his eighth consecutive 100+ yard game for the NFL’s leading rusher. With two games to go, Peterson needs 294 yards to break Eric Dickerson’s 2,105 NFL single-season rushing record.

His success on the field not only has him in contention for comeback player of the year but also keeps him in the running for MVP.

Vikings quarterback Christian Ponder completed 17 of 24 passes for 131 yards. On his first offensive drive of the game on 3rd and 5, Ponder scrambled in for a 5-yard touchdown run giving the Vikings an early 7-0 lead. His favorite target was Jerome Simpson, who caught four catches for 27 yards.

Rams quarterback Sam Bradford completed 35 of 55 passes for 377 yards three touchdowns and one interception. Bradford’s first touchdown came in the second quarter when he connected on a 4-yard pass to wideout Brian Quick.

Bradford threw his lone interception in the second quarter to defensive end Everson Griffen, who returned it 29 yards for a touchdown.

Bradford and the Rams started to come back in the fourth quarter. First Bradford connected with wideout Danny Amendola on a 6-yard touchdown pass. The Rams defense was able to force the Vikings to punt  on the following drive. On the Rams ensuing offensive drive, Bradford lead his offense from their own 12-yard line. Bradford connected with tight-end Lance Kendricks for a score and converted a two-point conversion to cut the lead to 33-22.

The Vikings answered back with a 51-yard field goal from kicker Blair Walsh and preserved the lead, earning Minnesota their second consecutive win.

At 8-6, the Vikings are still in contention for a wildcard play-off position, but will need help. They will have a tough match-up on the road next week against the Houston Texans. As for the Rams, they will head to Raymond James Stadium to take on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

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The Seattle Seahawks improved to 5-4 this year and 4-0 at home after their 30-20 victory over the Minnesota Vikings.

Running back, Marshawn Lynch carried the Seahawks to victory with 26 carries for 124 yards and one touchdown. His three yard touchdown run in the third quarter put them ahead of the Vikings 27-17. Lynch also contributed with two catches for 26 yards. Lynch has ran for over 100 yards five times this season and it is his third consecutive game with over 100 yards on the ground.

Rookie quarterback Russell Wilson completed 16-of-24 passes for 173 yards and three touchdowns in the victory. This was the second time Wilson threw three touchdowns in a game this season. Wilson’s first touchdown pass was to wideout Golden Tate in the first quarter to tie the game up 7-7.

Golden Tate caught an 11 yard pass from Wilson for his second touchdown catch of the game, cutting the lead 20-17. Tate finished off the game with four receptions for 28 yards along with his two touchdown passes. Wideout Sidney Rice caught four passes for 54 yards and one touchdown.

Vikings quarterback Christian Ponder struggled to complete 11-of-22 passes for 63 yards and one interception. Ponder has thrown for less than 100 yards in two of the last three games for the Vikings. Wideout Percy Harvin, caught two passes for 10 yards and ran the ball four times for 24 yards.

Harvin exited the game in the third quarter with a left ankle injury. Although, returning he was not effective and was limping.

Minnesota running back Adrian Peterson carried the ball 17 times for 182 yards and two touchdowns. Peterson also caught three passes for 11 yards. He has rushed for over 100 yards and one touchdown in three consecutive games.

The Vikings have dropped their last two games and hold a slim 3rd place lead over the Detroit Lions in the NFC North standings. Minnesota will welcome the Lions to Mall of America Field in a divisional showdown next week. They already defeated the Lions at Ford Field earlier in the year; Minnesota’s lone road victory.

As for the Seattle Seahawks, they will welcome the New York Jets to CenturyLink Field as they look to improve to 5-0 at home this season.

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Minnesota finished last in the NFC North division last season with a 3-13 record. The Vikings’ biggest offensive struggle came from under center. I

n his rookie season, Christian Ponder played in 11 games, throwing for 1,853 yards, 13 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. In his 11 starts, Ponder only led the Vikings to two victories over Carolina and Washington. Ponders’ favorite target was wideout, Percy Harvin. Harvin caught 87 passes for 967 yards and 6 touchdowns. Overall, the Vikings were ranked 28th in passing yards. Vikings are hoping Ponder has shaken off his rookie jitters and will improve this upcoming season.

On the contrary, Minnesota’s run game was one of the best in the NFL. The Vikings were ranked 4th in the NFL with 2,318 rushing yards. A large part of this success is from star running back Adrian Peterson. Peterson played in 12 games, rushing for 970 yards and 12 touchdowns. His season was cut short after suffering a gruesome knee injury last December. Peterson is recovering extremely well and should be ready to go week 1 against the Jacksonville Jaguars.

If Peterson does not play, Toby Gerhart will get the start. Gerhart played in all 16 of the Vikings’ games last season rushing for 531 yards and 1 touchdown.

As for Minnesota’s defense, they were also towards the bottom of the NFL, ranked 21st in total yards given up and 21st for yards per game. Linebacker, Chad Greenway had a team leading 154 tackles, 3rd in the NFL. As for the “sack-star,” Jared Allen, he had another impressive season finishing atop the NFL with 22.0 sacks.

The Vikings start off the season with two favorable match-ups against Jacksonville and Indianapolis, which could help kick them off to a 2-0 start. However, their division may be the toughest in the NFL this upcoming season and they have little hope of making any noise.

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The San Francisco 49ers started their preseason on a positive note after taking down the Minnesota Vikings 17-6.

49ers starting quarterback, Alex Smith, completed 3-of-3 passes for 16 yards and one touchdown pass in one series of play. Smith connected with fouth year wide receiver Brett Swain for a 4-yard touchdown pass towards the end of the first quarter. Michael Crabtree only caught one pass for three yards.

The Niners are trying to upgrade their pass game this season after finishing 29th in total passing yards last year. With the addition of veteran, Randy Moss, and Super Bowl XLVI standout, Mario Manningham, the Niners boast a revamped receiving corps for the 2012-13 campaign.  

On Friday night, most of the 49ers’ offense came from their strong running game, not to mention that starting running back Frank Gore did not play. Anthony Dixon had 12 carries for 46 yards, Rock Cartwright had 8 carries for 44 yards, and newly acquired Brandon Jacobs had four carries for 31 yards, including a breakout 23-yard run. Back-up quarterback Colin Kaepernick outran everybody and tallied up 92 yards on the ground, including a 78-yard quarterback keeper for the 49ers’ second touchdown. San Fran out ran the Vikings, 260 to 82.

The Niners have serious running back depth, especially with the addition of Brandon Jacobs to help in short down situations, but also by drafting rookie LaMichael James. Both Jacobs and James, along with Kendall Hunter, will be competing for 2nd string running back this offseason.

The Minnesota Vikings have some evident offensive issues that they should be concerned about, especially after tallying up only 208 total yards against the Niners. Quarterback Christian Ponder completed 4-of-9 passes for 80 yards in his first game of the year. Ponder, a second year starter, still has a lot to prove if he is going to continue to be a starter in Minnesota. Ponder was towards the bottom of the list for quarterbacks when it came to yards, touchdowns, quarterback rating, and competition percentage.

The Vikings offensive woes do not end there, they are also without star running back Adrian Peterson. Peterson suffered a gruesome knee injury towards the end of last season and is still not 100% better. Peterson has been practicing with the starters and is hoping to play towards the end of preseason. If Peterson is not ready, Toby Gerhart would most likely start. Gerhart carried the ball 5 times for 31 yards in Friday’s game against the Niners.

Ponder and the Vikings will be back in action Friday, August 17 against the Buffalo Bills. As for the Niners and their prolific run game, they will be back in action Saturday, August 18 against the Houston Texans.

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The Chicago Bears routed the Minnesota Vikings 39-10 to move to 3-3 on the season and gain some much needed ground in the NFC North division. The Bears served the Vikings a steady dose of Matt Forte, hard nose defense, and Devin Hester. From the first Chicago offensive series the tone was set as Jay Cutler threw a 48 touchdown pass to a streaking Hester.

Not to be outdone, the defense forced a safety on Viking QB Donovan McNabb, giving the Bears there first safety since early 2009. From there Cutler went to work through the air as his whittled offensive line provided him with protection not evident in any of the previous game this season — a task not thought possible, since Minnesota has the second best pass rushing defense in the NFL.

Shockingly the Bears offensive line only allowed Cutler to be sacked once all night and afforded him time to sit in the pocket. This was an almost night and day difference from last week against the Detroit Lions where Cutler was under duress the entire night. With the offense humming on all levels, almost scoring at will, and a stingy defense only allowing 3 points, the Bears jumped out to big 26-3 lead at halftime.

However the Vikings would not go quietly into the night. Early in the 3^rd, Jared Allen sacked Cutler and in the process created at fumbled ball which Allen recovered. With a short field the Vikings behind their star running back Adrian Peterson managed a touchdown drive. Peterson carried the ball in from 4 yards out and the momentum seemed to be shifting in the Vikings favor, until they made a crucial mistake.

It has been said around the NFL that you don’t kick the ball to Devin Hester. The Vikings must have missed that memo as Hester returned the kickoff for a 98 touchdown, and shut off any steam the Vikings were gathering. Hester’s kickoff return put the game firmly out of reach, prompting the Vikings to replace McNabb with their 2011 first round draft pick Christian Ponder.

In his first action as a QB in the NFL, Ponder did some things well such as reading the defensive pressure, hitting open receivers, and extending plays with his feet. Ponder still showed that he was a rookie by overthrowing a few receivers, but he played well enough to stir up some quarterback controversy, especially with Minnesota’s 1-5 record.

The only question left to ponder is the Vikings QB position. Will they stick with the old or bring in the future?

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