The Associated Press
Pat Graham
DENVER—For all he did right, Adrian Peterson’s main memory from yesterday will be his missed assignment that ended Minnesota’s chance for a comeback victory over Denver.
Instead of chipping a blitzing T.J. Ward, Peterson went out for a screen pass.
The Broncos safety breezed around the edge and swatted the ball from quarterback Teddy Bridgewater, which Von Miller pounced on it in the final minute to wrap up a 23-20 win.
“Put that on me,” Peterson said.
“We were in that moment, and I’ve got to come through and make that block for Teddy.”
The Vikings head into their bye week at 2-2 and with an offence that’s starting to click—or shows signs of, anyway.
Granted, Bridgewater was sacked seven times by Denver’s stalwart defence, including twice by Ward.
But the second-year QB did lead Minnesota back from a 20-10 deficit against the Broncos (4-0) in the fourth quarter.
“He had a solid game. He played well. Commanded the huddle,” said Peterson, who wore a stylish all-shades-of-purple outfit after the game.
“Gave us a chance at the end.”
Bridgewater tapped the football once as he drifted back, scanning the field for an open receiver. By the time he saw Ward, it was way too late and the ball was in the hands of Miller.
“You have to make faster decisions with the football, get the ball out of your hand faster,” Bridgewater noted.
“At the same time, you can’t be too worried about the rush,” he added. “You just have to continue to execute the offence.”
The blame for all those sacks? Bridgewater wasn’t about to point fingers.
“We’re going to watch the tape and we’re going to make some corrections,” said Bridgewater, who completed 27-of-41 passes for 269 yards.
“We’ll go from there.”
Bottled up most of the day, Peterson broke free in the fourth quarter—just when the Vikings needed him most.
On fourth-and-one, he found a big seam in the Broncos’ defence and went untouched for a 48-yard score to slice the deficit to 20-17 with 10:01 to go.
Before that run, Peterson had 14 carries for 34 yards. Asked what he saw when he was about to hit the gaping hole, Peterson grinned and replied, “End zone.”
Mike Wallace finished with eight catches for 83 yards and a touchdown while Stefon Diggs had six catches for 87 yards.
Peterson may be Minnesota’s identity but the receivers can step up, too.
“When you have that guy [Peterson], might be one day you get the ball, might be one day you have to block all day,” Wallace noted.
“As long as we get the win, really doesn’t matter.
“We didn’t get this win but if we keep fighting like that, we’ll get a lot of wins on the road,” he predicted.
Vikings’ coach Mike Zimmer said it took the team a while to get acclimated to Denver’s speed on defence.
“They ran a couple of blitzes there that we had not seen,” Zimmer noted. “They hit us with the strong safety coming off the edge.
“They hadn’t been a big-pressure team. After a while, we settled down.”
Took a little too long—a lesson Peterson hopes they take away from this game.
“We still have room to grow,” stressed Peterson, who plans to spend the bye week relaxing with his family in Eden Prairie, Mn. and working out.
“I look back and there were some missed opportunities that you can’t have back,” he noted. “A lot to look back on.
“I feel like we’re OK. We’ll be good.”
Elsewhere in the NFL, New Orleans edged Dallas 26-20 (OT), Green Bay dumped San Francisco 17-3, Chicago shaded Oakland 22-20, the N.Y. Jets beat Miami 27-14, Indianapolis nipped Jacksonville 16-13 (OT), and the N.Y. Giants downed Buffalo 24-10.
Carolina topped Tampa Bay 37-23, Washington edged Philadelphia 23-20, Atlanta routed Houston 48-21, Cincinnati beat Kansas City 36-21, San Diego nipped Cleveland 30-27, and St. Louis shaded Arizona 24-22.
Seattle hosts Detroit tonight.
