Tuesday, September 12, 2017

Season Opener...

So, generally I am not one to write about football, but I thought last night's game featuring the return of Adrian Peterson to Minnesota (as a Saint) had some potential drama. After one solid Adrian Peterson run, he was sort of taken out of the game... both figuratively and literally.

Adrian Peterson none too happy with his six carries..

This reminds me a little bit of the Herschel Walker situation in Minnesota, where they made the big trade for the big gun, despite the fact that the head coach at the time (Jerry Burns - aka father of the west coast offense) - didn't really want a classic down hill eye formation running back. The situation never quite worked for the Vikings.

You get the impression last night that Sean Payton perhaps is not a fan of changing his offensive scheme to adjust for the 9 yards deep sort of running that Peterson excels at. After all, the team is sort of built around future Hall of Famer Drew Brees and the passing game. But it makes you wonder why they signed Peterson (arguably an all time top five running back) - to take six carries a game.

7 comments:

Coldheartedtruth Teller said...

The Vikings looked better from the first play. My Broncos had a hell of a game last night too.

But what bugs me, is that your Twins will probably outplay the Angels for the last wild card.

But on more sports, that Cleveland has 19 wins in a row, one game away from the all time American league record.

Anonymous said...

Former Chief RB Charles made the Bronco's team, but got no touches last nite. Wtf.

KC had their game of their season already beating up un NE.

wphamilton said...

Dallas fans are still thanking the Vikings for that Hershel Walker trade.

This week I was just happy to see the smug self-congratulating Giants get stuffed. Humiliated in the first half, 16 zip and two first downs.

Anonymous said...




meanwhile:

http://ace.mu.nu/archives/Kaepernick%20game%20day.jpg


Indy Voter said...

At 3 yards a carry, Petersen wasn't any better than the other Saints running backs. At least one of the others caught 5 passes. Petersen didn't catch the only pass that came his way.

C.H. Truth said...

Indy - Obviously I watched Peterson pretty closely for most of his career. He's never been a great pass receiver and generally came out on third down.

He's a guy who needs to be given carries to be effective. He's also a guy who generally gets the ball even when there are 8 men in the box, and still holds a career average of 4.9 yards a carry. The advantages of opening up other options because they always put 8 men in the box when he was in the game, is one of those little things that goes unnoticed.

The saints wasted 3.5 million on someone who will likely become a locker room problem if he is given 6 carries a game. Probably not a good signing for either side.

Or perhaps his style of play does not lend well to a guy in the tail end of his career and would be better off retiring.

wphamilton said...

My Broncos had a hell of a game last night too.

And had another great game against the Cowboys, which I only needed to watch for two possessions after the half to know everything that happened in that game. Wow that sucked for a Dallas fan.