Adrian Peterson reaches 18th on all-time rushing list

[Mothman]

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/14251 ... shing-list

Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson is now in 18th place on the NFL's all-time rushing list, having passed three retired backs during the first half of the Vikings' game against the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday.

The first one Peterson passed carried a special significance for him.

Peterson passed O.J. Simpson for 20th place on the NFL's all-time rushing list with a 10-yard run in the second quarter, eclipsing Simpson's career total of 11,236 yards. On his next carry, Peterson went past Corey Dillon, who was in 19th place with 11,241 yards. Later in the game, he passed John Riggins, who had 11,352 yards.

Peterson leads active players in rushing touchdowns and is 10th in NFL history. He needs five to tie Barry Sanders for ninth all time.

[Mothman]

You can watch his second TD of the day again here:

https://twitter.com/NFL/status/67107008 ... wsrc%5Etfw

I loved that he threw the ball to a Vikes fan in the stands.

[DK Sweets]

You can watch his second TD of the day again here:

https://twitter.com/NFL/status/67107008 ... wsrc%5Etfw

I loved that he threw the ball to a Vikes fan in the stands.

Its funny you say that...as soon as I saw him do that, all I could think was "That's a fine..."

[Mothman]

Its funny you say that...as soon as I saw him do that, all I could think was "That's a fine..."

[dead_poet]

Congrats to AD! He just keeps muscling his way up the charts and into our hearts (said in Casey Kasem voice). So happy he's a Viking (and hopefully for life).

How much higher do you think he can realistically get barring no significant injury?

If he continues his pace this year at 106 yards/game for five more games (I'm tossing in a playoff game), he'll have 11,884 rushing yards going into his age 31 season (1,694 on the season). If he plays three more years (conservatively) and averages 1,000 yards per year, he'll have accumulated 14,884 yards, which would put him into fourth place all-time. I think that's pretty doable. If he can manage just 386 more yards than that in his career (15,270), he'll surpass Barry Sanders for #3. I think that's probably a realistic ceiling. Walter Peyton has 16,726 and of course Emmitt Smith has 18,355, which I'll say right now is insurmountable for AD. His year-long suspension really hurt him in his chase for #2 or #1 all-time. I hope we get to see at least three more years of AD destroying offenses.

[DK Sweets]

Barring injury, too 5 is pretty much guaranteed. I'd say he ends 3rd, like you mentioned.

[Mothman]

Congrats to AD! He just keeps muscling his way up the charts and into our hearts (said in Casey Kasem voice). So happy he's a Viking (and hopefully for life).

How much higher do you think he can realistically get barring no significant injury?

Good question. He only needs 35 yards to move up another notch on the list, past Steven Jackson. Another 342 would move him past Fred Taylor into the #16 spot. He trails Frank Gore (#15) by 376 so since Gore is still active and playing, it might be hard to catch him this year but Peterson could conceivably be in the #15 or #16 spot this year.

If he continues his pace this year at 106 yards/game for five more games (I'm tossing in a playoff game), he'll have 11,884 rushing yards going into his age 31 season (1,694 on the season). If he plays three more years (conservatively) and averages 1,000 yards per year, he'll have accumulated 14,884 yards, which would put him into fourth place all-time. I think that's pretty doable. If he can manage just 386 more yards than that in his career (15,270), he'll surpass Barry Sanders for #3. I think that's probably a realistic ceiling. Walter Peyton has 16,726 and of course Emmitt Smith has 18,355, which I'll say right now is insurmountable for AD. His year-long suspension really hurt him in his chase for #2 or #1 all-time. I hope we get to see at least three more years of AD destroying offenses.

I agree that losing almost an entire season really hurt his chances to ever catch Smith. I think the #2 spot is in reach for him but it would be tough. A lot depends on health and longevity.

I'm eager to see how high he can climb on that list.

He has a very realistic chance to become the Vikings all-time TD leader (outside of the QB position). CC holds the mark with 110. Peterson currently has 99 TDs.

[dead_poet]

@Gil_Brandt Adrian Peterson became 6th player in NFL history w/ 30 games of 125+ rushing yds.

Sanders 46
Brown 41
Payton 38
Dickerson 36
Emmitt 34

[Mothman]

That's awfully good company.

[fiestavike]

That's a fun stat. I sure would love to see 5 more of those to close out the season.

[Mothman]

From Peter King's MMQb column:

Adrian Peterson, chastened, chases third rushing title

That doesn’t seem right, does it? Adrian Peterson, with just two rushing titles? He won at age 23, in his second NFL season, with 1,760 yards, and won again in that MVP season of 2012, coming off major knee surgery the previous winter to run for 2,097 yards, a sick 6.0 yards per rush. That’s it.

On Sunday in Atlanta, Peterson (29 for 158, with a couple of touchdowns) again asserted his dominance, this time against the best run defense in football through 10 games. He passed three more runners on the all-time rushing list and now sits 18th in NFL history. He will enter December—and some tough foes in his last five games, starting with Seattle on Sunday at home—with a 126-yard lead in the rushing race over Tampa Bay’s Doug Martin. Peterson, through 11 games, has rushed 237 times for 1,164 yards (4.9 yards per carry) and eight touchdowns.

After Sunday’s 20-10 win over the Falcons, Minnesota is 8-3 with a one-game lead over struggling Green Bay in the NFC North. The Vikings started the season trying to make this a dual offensive team, with Peterson and Teddy Bridgewater sharing starring roles. But in the last five games Bridgewater has been held under 200 passing yards four times. In the last five games, Peterson has topped 100 rushing yards four times.

Three points Peterson made to me over the phone post-game:

• He’s happy that 2014 was a year to get healthy, mentally and spiritually and physically away from football. He was placed on the commissioner’s exempt list for excessive discipline of his four-year-old son (pleading no contest to misdemeanor reckless assault) and missed the final 15 games of the 2014 season. “A blessing in disguise,” he said. “I was able to rest my body. And sometimes you’ve got to be humbled. There were things I was doing that God didn’t want me to do. I think it’s a good thing I was able to sit back and get my life in order.”

• He has been motivated by turning 30 last March. “People on the outside all say, ‘You’re 30, you’re 30, you’re 30,” Peterson said. “It’s too old for a running back. I heard it over and over and over. That’s not the only thing that motivates me, but it helps when everyone tells you that you can’t do something, and you know you can do it.”

• It means something to him, by the way, this third rushing title. Why wouldn’t it? Peterson, like no back I’ve met since Emmitt Smith, has a deep desire to leave footprints on the game. He’s 958 rushing yards behind Jim Brown now—Brown is ninth all-time—and should pass him next September, good health willing. In training camp last year Peterson told me how much he wanted to catch Smith’s all-time record; he’s now 7,001 yards behind Smith, and only a miracle or Tom Brady’s fountain of youth will help him get close to that. “I can’t lie and say I’m not proud of being in this position now,” he said of being comfortably ahead in the rushing derby this year. “As a competitor, yes, it’s big. But I don’t make it my main focus. We’re winning. That’s my focus.”

With his quarterback in the shotgun so much now, Peterson has had to get used to more of a sidecar role in the backfield. Offensive coordinator Norv Turner is trying to do what’s best for Bridgewater’s growth and Peterson’s production. “Norv’s been doing a great job of mixing it up,” Peterson said. True: Bridgewater has thrown it 108 times in the past four games; Peterson has run it 97 times in the same stretch. Not much has changed for Peterson or the Vikings: If he’s dominant in December, Minnesota has a great chance to win the division. If defenses load the line to stop him, it’s going to be up to Bridgewater to win games through the air, and he hasn’t done that very much yet.

What will help Peterson is coach Mike Zimmer’s defense. In nine of their 11 games, the Vikings have held foes to 20 points or fewer. So Peterson knows it’s not up to him to have monster games every Sunday. Though Peterson also leads the NFL in rushing attempts, you can be sure Turner and Zimmer won’t keep feeding him just to push his numbers high. He’s going to put up big numbers organically. And you get the feeling he’ll be doing that for three or four more years. At least.

[dead_poet]

@chipscoggins Great stat by Vikings: Adrian Peterson has rushed for 100 yards in one half 18 times in career. Next best in team history: Robert Smith at 2

[DK Sweets]

Hahaha so close!