Adrian Peterson does not have any excuses. After turning in one of his worse performances of his NFL career, the Minnesota Vikings running back knows he simply must do more if the team is going to be successful this season. The 28-yard rushing effort was uncharacteristic for one of the NFL's best all-around players. As the Vikings offense continues to struggles, Peterson notes everyone was just out of whack.
Peterson is right to use the phrase "out of whack" when describing Minnesota. The team is on their third starting quarterback who might be the worst of the three. Josh Freeman went 20 for 53 in passing for just 190 yards. Meanwhile Leslie Frazier only called on 13 rushing plays for the league's reigning MVP. A week after suffering a personal tragedy, Peterson said he was not distracted and was not making excuses.
"It was definitely tough sledding," Peterson said, via the Pioneer Press. "We were just kind of out of whack. Those guys were bringing some stunts, doing a lot of movement up front. Nothing we haven't seen before, but it kind of put us in an uncomfortable position and we struggled with that all night."
The Vikings will need a lot more out of Peterson if they are going to be at all successful this year. One thing was clear in the team's loss to the New York Giants, Josh Freeman is not the answer at starting quarterback, or at least not yet.
"It's frustrating,'' Freeman said. "It's disappointing. But at the same time I see a lot of areas that are manageable in terms of improvement. We can definitely get better as time moves on.''
Freeman has been with the team for just two weeks and Frazier somehow called for 53 passes. Fantasy owners shake their heads in disappointment. Freeman had very little time to prepare for the game and Frazier believes there is a lot of room for potential and improvement.
"His performance was up and down,'' Frazier said."He had a lot of people at the line of scrimmage and it made it hard. We need to get our running game going to take the pressure off the quarterback. His numbers aren't the greatest for sure.''
Peterson is hopeful that the team becomes more physical on both sides of the ball. He believes that was the team's edge last year and they have failed to show that this season. While a lot can be made of the quarterback play, the running back believes if the offensive unit begins to push one another, things will get better.
