It seems the Minnesota Vikings might not be as good as their record, and Adrian Peterson seems to be once again blaming the coaching staff for a rough loss against the Seattle Seahawks, maybe suggesting to the ownership he wants Mike Zimmer gone?
Peterson carried the ball 8 times in the 37-3 loss, which began with 35 consecutive points by the Seahawks. He finished with 18 yards, and once again hinted about being out coached at every level, just like after the loss to the Green Bay Packers, which should have been the Vikings way of putting their foot down and grabbing the lead in the division. Once again, a big test comes along, and they look like they don’t belong with teams that have big plans this season, even a struggling one like the 7-5 (after the win) Seahawks.
As one of the leaders on the team, seeing how the running game has been all season, you definitely want to be able to go out and establish the run and let things feed off of that. To finish with eight carries, it’s tough. I feel like we’re able to sit back, evaluate some things again and get back to what we do.
This isn’t just Peterson, who leads the league in rushing, being worried about his stats. He knows the Vikings, even with a promising quarterback like Teddy Bridgewater, are a run-first type of team. And every time the Vikings will turn away from that, even when they have to pass, they’re going to look bad. They gained less yards in the second half (57 to 68) than in the first half, en route to the lowest offensive output by any team this season.
Peterson carried the ball on the first two plays of the second half and one more time after that. That was it. Even down 21-0, the Vikings just don’t have the players to bomb away at a declining but well prepared and experienced enough defense to know how to handle the situation. It might be just Peterson venting after a frustrating loss, but this isn’t the first time this season he’s been really angry at the way the coaching staff has handled things. Pretty soon, he might try showing off in a power struggle with Zimmer if he doesn’t get his way.