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.

Image Courtesy : Minnesota Vikings

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The Packers offense started where they left off last week after crushing the Houston Texans, defeating the St. Louis Rams in Edward Jones Dome 30-20.

Aaron Rodgers led Green Bay’s offense with another spectacular game under center. Rodgers completed 30-of-37 passes for 342 yards and three touchdowns. In Rodgers last four games, he has thrown at least three touchdowns in each contest. His 81.1 completion percentage was a season best.

The Packers run game continues to be extremely inconsistent, especially without starting running back Cedric Benson. Starter Alex Green had 20 carries for 35 yards. He also caught four passes for 29 yards.

The Packers’ receiving core were without Greg Jennings for a third consecutive game. Jordy Nelson led the receivers with eight receptions for 122 yards and one touchdown. Nelson has emerged to become Green Bay’s number one wideout. This is the second consecutive week Nelson has compiled over 120 yards and a touchdown.

Randall Cobb also continues to be an electrifying threat on the Packers offense, whether being featured as a running back or a slot wide receiver. Cobb had one carry for 19 yards and caught eight passes for 89 yards and two touchdowns.

Green Bay’s offense has scored 72 points in their last two games to reestablish their high powered offense.

Green Bay’s defense is battered with injuries and were without defensive back Sam Shield, defensive tackle B.J. Raji, linebacker Nick Perry and linebacker D.J. Smith, who was put on injured reserve. Rookie defensive back, Casey Hayward stepped in for Shields and made his presence known.

Hayward had three tackles and one interception. He caught his fourth interception of the season in the 3rd quarter and is leading the team in interceptions. Linebacker Eric Walden led the defense with nine tackles. Also, linebacker Clay Matthews recorded his 9th sack of the season and remains in the top tier of pass rushers this season.

Rams quarterback Sam Bradford completed 21-of-34 passes for 255 yards, one touchdown and one interception. Bradford’s lone touchdown pass was to wideout Austin Pettis in the 4th quarter.  Running back Steven Jackson carried the ball 12 times for 57 yards and one touchdown. Jackson punched in his first touchdown of the season.

Green Bay will be back in action next week at Lambeau Field against the Jacksonville Jaguars. The Packers are still towards the bottom of the NFC North division; however, they are picking up their production as the season progresses.

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The Chicago Bears improved to 2-1 on the season, after defeating the St. Louis Rams 23-6 at Soldier Field. The Bears’ offense struggled last week against rivals Green Bay Packers, and their offense still seemed out of sync against the Rams.

Jay Cutler completed 17 of 31 pass attempts for only 183 yards, and threw one interception. Cutler had a passed rating of 58.9, and did not throw a touchdown pass for the first time since week 9 of last season. The Bears’ offensive line protected Cutler much better, only giving up two sacks. Wide receiver Brandon Marshall caught five passes for 71 yards, compared to his two receptions last week. Alshon Jeffery had five receptions for 45 yards. With running back Matt Forte still out due to an injury, Michael Bush led the Bears with 18 carries for 55 yards and one touchdown. Bush also caught two passes for 18 yards.

As for the the St. Louis Rams their points were produced by rookie kicker, Greg Zuerlein. Zuerlein booted a 56 yard field goal, and a 46 yard field goal. Zuerlein is now 6-6 on the season.  Rams quarterback Sam Bradford had a rough game, only completing 18 of 35 passes for 152 yards and two interceptions. Bradford was knocked around all of the game, and was sacked six times. Furthermore, Bradford had a career low of  39.2 quarterback rating. Danny Amendola was Bradford’s favorite receiver again, catching five passes for 66 yards. Running back Steven Jackson was limited to 11 carries for 29 yards. Jackson wasn’t 100 percent as he proclaimed to be, however he did not further injure himself. Daryl Richardson carried the ball four times for 16 yards.

The Bears’ defense was lead by linebacker Lance Briggs, who had seven tackles. Also Bears, cornerback, Tim Jennings recored his 4th interception of the year. In addition, safety Major Wright caught his first interception and returned it 45 yards for a touchdown in the fourth quarter.

The Rams’ defense was led by linebacker James Laurinaitis, who recorded a season high 11 tackles. Cornerback Cortland Finnegan caught his third interception of the year in the the 1st quarter.

Chicago is 2-0 at home this season, and will be back in action next Monday, October 1st, on the road against the Dallas Cowboys. As for the Rams they will be home against division rivals, Seattle Seahawks on September 30th.

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The Detroit Lions welcomed the youngest team in the NFL, the St. Louis Rams, to kick off their season at Ford Field.

The opening drive of the game for Detroit started at their own 20 yard-line. Matthew Stafford helped drive the Lions down to the Rams own three yard-line. On first down, Stafford dropped back and was picked off by rookie Janoris Jenkins who returned the interception 34 yards. On the Rams ensuing drive, rookie kicker, Greg  Zuerlein, hit a 48 yard field goal to give the Rams an early 3-0 lead. Luckily for the Lions, they answered back quickly with a score of their own, Joique Bell rushed for a one-yard touchdown to regain the lead 7-3.

Unable to respond, the Rams gave the Lions the ball back after a three and out. Similar to their first drive, Stafford dropped back on St. Louis’ 16 yard-line, and was intercepted by Jo-Lonn Dunbar.  Once again, the Rams took advantage after forcing a second interception, and kicker Zuerlein hit 29 yard field goal to cut the deficit to 7-6. Stafford jogged back onto the field to help regain the lead for the Lions. On first and 10, running the no huddle offense, Stafford dropped back into Shotgun formation and looked to connect with wideout Calvin Johnson, and again, Stafford was picked off by Rams defensive back Cortland Finnegan who returned it for a touchdown, giving the Rams a 13-7 lead. Before the end of the first half, Lions kicker, Jason Hanson kicked a 42 yard field goal through the uprights to go into the half down 13-10.

In a low scoring third quarter, Hanson tied the game up after hitting a 45 yard field goal. After forcing the Lions to punt, the Rams regained possession at Detroit’s 47 yard-line. Onsecond and nine from Detroit’s 23, in Shotgun, Sam Bradford dropped back and connected with wideout Brandon Gibson for a 23 yard touchdown, sending the Rams back ahead, 20-13.

With 9:45 remaining in the fourth quarter, Stafford did a good job of leading his offense down the field. On the Rams 5 yard line, running back Kevin Smith punched in a five yard touchdown run to tie the game back up. The Rams rookie kicker answered back on the ensuing drive with a 46 yard field goal to regain the lead 23-20 with less than two minutes left.

Starting at their own 20 yard-line, Stafford connected with wideout Calvin Johnson for a 20 yard completion.  The quarterback continued to strategically move the ball down field for the Lions. Once again, on second and seven, Stafford connected with Johnson for an 18 yard completion up the middle. Stafford quickly brought the offense to the line to spike the ball and stop the clock. On second and five, Stafford dropped back and found running back Kevin Smith wide open for an easy completion and a  27-23 victory.

Although throwing three first half interceptions, Stafford stayed focused when it mattered most and threw his only touchdown pass to win the game. The Lions will have any even tougher matchup next week on the road against the San Francisco 49ers.

For additional game and player stats click here.

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It has been common knowledge for some time that Percy Harvin is not happy at the Minnesota Vikings. Reports have emanated that he is unhappy with the way the Vikings have dealt with his injury; Harvin is currently recovering from surgery on his shoulder. It has been suggested he is dissatisfied with the Vikings’ reluctance to offer him a new contract which more accurately represents his contribution to the team. Whilst none of these rumors have been confirmed, with both Harvin and the Vikings preferring to settle these issues in-house, it has resulted in Harvin officially requesting a trade away from Minnesota.

The first thing that should be assumed in this saga is that the Vikings will not trade Harvin, despite the request. Given that Harvin is contracted to the Vikings for another two seasons, and at a very a reasonable price, it would take an extraordinary offer for Minnesota to even consider trading their number one receiver. Harvin made 967 yards on 87 receptions last season and was by far the most prolific of the Vikings’ receivers, also showing his versatility by playing running back when required, rushing for 345 yards.

That being said, there will be plenty of NFL teams who have sat up and took notice following Harvin’s announcement. At the forefront of this group is likely to be the Miami Dolphins. Stripped of a number one receiver following Brandon Marshall’s trade to the Chicago Bears, the Dolphins are in dire need of top receiving talent, despite their assurances they are happy with their current group. Their receiving corps boasts the likes of Davone Bess, Brian Hartline, Legedu Naanee and recent addition Chad Ochocinco, but none of them have the overall skill set to make them a legitimate contender for the number one receiver role. There is no doubt that Stephen Ross would love to have Harvin as a target for rookie quarterback Ryan Tannehill, but the question remains as to what he would have to give up to obtain him.

Another team likely to be interested is the Washington Redskins, who would also love to have him link up with their rookie quarterback, Robert Griffin III. Although the Redskins boast a better receiving corps than the Dolphins, with the likes of Santana Moss, Josh Morgan and Pierre Garcon, there is no doubting that Harvin would not only become the number one receiver, but also transform the Redskins’ offense into one which could compete in the challenging NFC East. Given the price paid for the opportunity to acquire RG3, it is debatable whether Washington has the leverage to make a tempting offer to the Vikings, and if they do, would they even be willing to trade away further draft picks.

One team which is perhaps in a position to make a decent offer to the Vikings (the Redskins can be thanked for that) is the St Louis Rams. The plethora of picks they received for their number two overall draft pick in the 2012 draft could possibly be enough to tempt Minnesota into a deal. Whilst the Rams have already added Steve Smith to their receiving corps in free agency, as well as Chris Givens and Brian Quick in the draft, the prospect of an elite receiver like Harvin could be too tempting for St Louis to turn down, who have shown faith in Sam Bradshaw as their franchise quarterback and will look to give him all the tools he needs to succeed.

Essentially these scenarios are very unlikely to come true, with the Vikings likely to wait until next season before trading Harvin when they would probably be able to receive just as good an offer as they could get this season. This would see them get another year’s production out of one of the best young receivers in the league and also give them an opportunity to try and convince him his future is in Minnesota. If the Vikings were to cut their losses on an unhappy player, and avoid any chance of him upsetting the locker room this coming season, it would certainly be one of the more surprising stories from this offseason, but far from the strangest thing that has ever happened in the NFL.

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The St Louis Rams (2-7) visited the Cleveland Browns (3-6) with the Browns labelled, rather unusually, as favorites, but did enough to overcome the home side with a 13-12 victory.  The Browns continued to suffer from injury woes, and were still unable to welcome back Peyton Hillis, Montario Hardesty and Mohammed Mossaquoi to active duty, heaping the pressure on running back Chris Ogbonnaya, as well as receivers Greg Little and Josh Cribbs.

Safety T. J. Ward also missed the game after suffering a foot injury in the previous week, and Usama Young started in his place. The Rams had less injury concerns to contend with, as Sam Bradford recovered sufficiently from an ankle injury to start, but right tackle Jason Smith was listed as inactive for the game.

The game was largely decided by kickers Josh Brown and Phil Dawson, with Browns kicker Dawson missing a 22-yard field goal after a bounced snap in the last two minutes of the game, a field goal that would have won the game for Cleveland. The Rams, as well as earning the victory, were also able to get in the end zone in the second quarter, quarterback Bradford finding Brandon Lloyd for a seven-yard touchdown pass, the only touchdown of the game.

Even with Mossaquoi out, the Browns were still able to find eight different players on receptions, the most prominent of whom was Little, who caught for 84 yards on six receptions, and performed well given the lack of an effective running game to take the pressure off of Colt McCoy and the passing game.

Ogbonnaya did manage to run for 90 yards on 19 attempts, and was helped on occasion by both Little and Cribbs, who rushed cumulatively for 31 yards on four attempts, but the Browns continue to struggle in the absence of Hillis and Hardesty. Meanwhile, the Rams relied on running back Steven Jackson, who ran for 128 yards and took the pressure off of St Louis’s receivers in what was a close game.

The loss will be difficult for Cleveland to take, and was one of the games Head Coach Pat Shurmur will have targeted to help the Browns turn their season around ahead of a difficult run, in which they will play both the Baltimore Ravens and the Pittsburgh Steelers twice, as well as divisional rivals, the Cincinnati Bengals, once.

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The 2011 NFL season may be only nine weeks old, but for some teams at the bottom of their division, the season is already over. And, some fan bases couldn’t be happier that their team is performing so poorly.

Every year the worse team in the league gets the first pick in the upcoming NFL Draft, and this year that pick is slightly more coveted than in recent years. The reason for this comes down to the junior starting quarterback for the Stanford Cardinal, Andrew Luck. Luck, barring any unforeseen injuries will enter his name in the draft next year, and without a shadow of doubt be selected by the team with the first pick.

Luck is regarded as the most NFL ready college quarterback by football analysts across the land. He was projected to go number one in the 2011 Draft, but elected to finish his degree at Stanford and play one more season. NFL teams have been salivating over Luck because his ability to play the quarterback position has franchise savior written all over it.

In 2010 Luck threw for over 3,000 yards, completed 70% of his passes, and had a dizzying touchdown to interception ratio of 32 to 8. Luck is also proving that last year was not a fluke; he is currently on track to outpace his phenomenal numbers from last year.

The image now becomes clear as to why some teams fan bases want their favorite team to stink it up for the rest of the season. What’s one bad year, when we can acquire Luck, and possibly have the next legendary quarterback on our team?

The current teams that are in line to win the Andrew Luck jackpot are the Miami Dolphins, St. Louis Rams, and the Indianapolis Colts. These teams are the bottom of the bottom and their combined record is an atrocious 2-23. As of Week 9 while all three teams look hapless, Indianapolis is the clear frontrunner at 0-9.

The Dolphins could easily be 4-4, if not for a miraculous 4^th quarter comeback by Tim Tebow, and a couple of losses in close games, so it is doubtful that they will finish at the bottom. The Rams recently acquired Sam Bradford with the number one pick in 2010.Bradford was last year’s Offensive Rookie of the Year, so it is likely that the Rams would trade the pick for more draft picks to fill other personnel holes.

Then there are the Indianapolis Colts who are going in the wrong direction, with each performance looking worse than the one before. What’s odd is that the Colts, for the last 11 years, have been stout at the quarterback position thanks to future Hall of Famer, Peyton Manning.

If Manning would’ve been healthy at the beginning of the season, the Colts would probably be in contention for a playoff spot and not the first draft pick. However  with Manning’s neck injury lingering and people close to the situation doubting if his production value will be anywhere close to the Manning of old, Luck is now a serious option.

The popular school of thought is that if Luck goes to the Colts one of two things will happen. The first is that after drafting Luck, if Manning can return next year, Luck will sit on the bench and learn from one of the greatest quarterbacks in NFL history. In 3-5 years when Manning’s contract extension is up, Luck will take over and be the new heir to the Colt’s offense.

The second option is that if Manning can’t make his return the Colt’s would trade or cut Manning, and begin the Luck era in Indianapolis. A crude way to treat your former savior, but the NFL is a business where tough decisions need to be made.

With 8 weeks left in the season it’s anybody guess as to who will wind up with the first pick in the draft.  What is certain is that one NFL team is going to win by losing.

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