The Minnesota Vikings were at their worst against the Seattle Seahawks as the lose grip on the chance to make the playoffs. Offensive blunders hurt the team along with injuries on the defense and now frustration is beginning to cloud the organization. In the loss to the Seattle Seahawks, Adrian Peterson had a total of eight carries, something he told the media should never happen again. Now, head coach Mike Zimmer is defending the issue.
Peterson voiced his criticism of the play calling to the media following Sunday's loss as he believed he should get more than eight carries. While everyone agreed Peterson was not involved enough, most NFL analysts criticized the running back for airing issues to the media instead of the coaching staff. Zimmer denied that there was tension following the issue.
"I don't really worry about other people's opinions. I just worry about what I think," Zimmer said before agreeing that Peterson should have more than the amount of carries he got. While everyone agreed that Peterson is the game changed the Vikings needed, they defended the offense Norv Turner is running.
"Adrian wants the ball. I understand that,'' guard Brandon Fusco said, via ESPN.com. "He's a heck of a player. He's probably the best player in this league. He wants the ball in his hands to change a game, and we want that, too. But Norv is a great [coordinator], and he's been around this game for a long time.''
The lack of carries for Peterson was the result of scrapping the shotgun handoffs against the Seahawks as Teddy Bridgewater struggle. The offense in general was a disappointment as Peterson recorded the most catches of the day with four. That is not enough to get a win as the issues are not going to keep the Vikings from making the postseason. The offense became one-dimensional and none of it was working. The Vikings took a step back from what they were doing at the beginning of the season and need to figure out how to get back on track. It remains to be seen if that will come with running Peterson more or getting Mike Wallace and Stefon Diggs to improve.
"It seems like all the losses this year, it's been that way. Every time we end up being one-dimensional on offense, it really makes it hard on [offensive coordinator] Norv [Turner] to call a play," Fusco said, via ESPN.com. "You want to be able to run the ball with the best running back in the NFL, wear defenses out, and we just didn't do that."
