Adrian Peterson having vintage performance vs. Buccaneers
Adrian Peterson, now of the Arizona Cardinals, is proving he deserved more carries with a vintage performance against the Buccaneers…
When the New Orleans Saints signed Adrian Peterson, it was clear he still had something left in the tank. The unfortunate thing for Peterson was, there wasn’t a clear role for him with the team.
As a result, the Saints felt comfortable enough with Mark Ingram and Alvin Kamara moving forward that they traded Peterson to an ailing Arizona Cardinals offense, missing its star in David Johnson.
The trade netted the Saints pretty much nothing, but it was at least something in return for a guy that wasn’t going to play a lot unless someone got hurt.
We all saw the now infamous scene on the New Orleans sideline week one against the Minnesota Vikings, where Peterson is giving Saints head coach Sean Payton the stare of absolute death, presumably because he wasn’t getting any action on the field.
He’s proving with the Cardinals, with less than a week of practice, that he clearly deserved more time with the ball in his hands.
Adrian Peterson’s back. https://t.co/4v8fq54KJ6
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) October 15, 2017
BREAKING: Ankles (via @AdrianPeterson) pic.twitter.com/oA7318RuLM
— Arizona Cardinals (@AZCardinals) October 15, 2017
All Day does it AGAIN.@AZCardinals RB @AdrianPeterson scores his 2nd TD of the day. #BeRedSeeRed https://t.co/65yXj2Hhhh
— NFL (@NFL) October 15, 2017
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At the time of this article’s posting, Peterson had 130 yards on 23 carries with two touchdowns, including the 27-yard touchdown to start the scoring in this game.
Peterson isn’t going to be crowned comeback player of the year after this game or anything, but this is a significant development for his post-Vikings career. It looked like Peterson was all but done in Minnesota with injuries and off-field issues, and then subsequently a disappointing four games in New Orleans.
This is a very encouraging sign that Bruce Arians, one of the best offensive minds in pro football, is finding ways to get Peterson back to who he used to be, at least somewhat.
Some things just make Sunday football better, and one of them is watching Peterson run through the line of scrimmage like it’s 2012, bursting past the secondary like they’re standing still, and scoring touchdowns.