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He piled up 263 total yards against Green Bay and Indianapolis, and that sure got the attention back on him in a hurry.
Carolina, Tennessee and New Orleans all loaded up to stop the run in the following three weeks. Peterson managed 77 yards against the Panthers, 80 against Tennessee and a measly 32 yards on 21 carries against a mediocre Saints defense missing star rookie defensive tackle Sedrick Ellis.
“After the game I started thinking to myself, ‘What exactly were they doing?’” Peterson said. “I watched the film and there was a lot we were doing wrong. A missed block here. A misread by the back. We just have to be patient and the run game is going to come along.”
After being slowed down the previous two weeks partially because of a tight hamstring, the Saints really put the breaks on a 100 percent healthy Peterson and last year’s top-ranked running game.
In the raucous Superdome on Monday night, the Saints threw everything they had at Peterson, nearly ignoring Gus Frerotte and the passing game altogether. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Peterson’s 1.5 yards-per-carry average was the lowest for a running back who had more than 20 carries in six seasons.
“Most people that come in and face us are going to say, ‘Beat us with your pass game. We won’t let that guy beat us. We know about him,’” Vikings coach Brad Childress said. “That’s probably the key as much as anything. You live by one thing and you die by the other.”
Not coincidentally, the Vikings also had their first 100-yard receiving day by a wide receiver in 30 games when Bernard Berrian caught six passes for 110 yards and a score in the 30-27 victory.
Still, Peterson expects to see Detroit safeties creeping up near the line of scrimmage early and often when the Lions (0-4) visit the Metrodome on Sunday.
“During the game, it can get kind of frustrating,” Peterson said. “But this is the league, man. So you’ve got guys that step up and make plays. And the quarterback stepped up and our receivers stepped up and made plays, and that’s all you can ask for.”
The Lions are looking to find their running game as well. After replacing pass-happy offensive coordinator Mike Martz with Jim Colletto in the offseason, the Lions planned a much more balanced offense in 2008.
Like much of Detroit’s preseason plans, that hasn’t materialized. Rookie Kevin Smith and newcomer Rudi Johnson haven’t gotten many opportunities because the Lions usually fall behind big early and are forced to pass to catch up.
“We thought we had an identity and were progressing, but we’re at standstill trying to figure out who we are and what we can do,” receiver Mike Furrey said. “This has caught us way off guard. This is something we didn’t expect coming into the season. It’s been a struggle.”
That’s quite an understatement for a team that ranks 28th in offense, 32nd in defense and dead last in team presidents — Matt Millen was fired during Detroit’s bye week.
The continued struggles of one of the most hapless franchises in all of professional sports have shown no signs of reversing in lopsided losses to Green Bay, San Francisco and Chicago.
“Really the first three games we played we were out of it quick,” coach Rod Marinelli said. “You get behind so quickly and it takes you out of your run game and some other things you like to do. Last week we just didn’t execute very well.”
It doesn’t figure to get any easier against the veteran Vikings defense in the Metrodome, where the Lions have lost 10 games in a row.
“It’s just been ugly,” Lions quarterback Jon Kitna said. “It started the first week. We had high expectations. We had a good preseason, a great off-season (and) really felt good about ourselves, then kind of took one on the chin and never recovered.”
They’re losing everywhere these days, these Lions, and Furrey says he feels bad for the city of Detroit because of it.
“I’m totally blown away with what’s going on,” Furrey said. “We’re human. It’s a struggle to come in here every day knowing what we expected is not what it is going on.”
