Christian Ponder has struggled to lead the Vikings offense the last couple of weeks. Percy Harvin couldn’t go today with an ankle injury. There was only one clear solution for the Minnesota Vikings, had the ball to Adrian Peterson. Peterson put the Viking on his back and carried them to a 34-24 win over the Detroit Lions.
Peterson rushed for 171 yards and a touchdown on a season high 27 carries. Peterson averaged 6.3 yards a carry and took some of the pressure off of Ponder and the Vikings passing game. Ponder completed 24 of his 32 passes for 221 yards and two touchdowns. Ponder protected the ball and avoided the turnovers that plagued him during the teams losing streak.
The Lions got big games for a couple of their stars but couldn’t do enough to slow Peterson. Matt Stafford passed for over 300 yards and three touchdowns. Calvin Johnson had his best game since he appeared on the cover of Madden with 12 catches for 207 yards and a touchdown. The Lions just couldn’t find any space on the ground. As a team, the Lions averaged only 3.5 yards on their 17 rushing attempts.
Next week, the Vikings 6-4 will be on a bye, and the Lions (4-5) will be home to play the Packers.
