I’d craftily planned our entertainment arrangements so that our guests would be arriving just about at the end of the game … and then the league changed the game time so that our guests would be arriving at kickoff instead. So I didn’t get to watch the game yesterday (and tried to not obsessively check my iPhone every minute for updates…)
After jumping out to an early lead, the Vikings hung on to win by a final score of 37-34, on a last-second field goal from rookie Pro Bowler Blair Walsh. The injury bug which had stayed away from the Vikings most of the season made an unwelcome appearance with Antoine Winfield and Harrison Smith both having to leave the game due to injury.
Adrian Peterson nearly broke the NFL’s season rushing record set by Eric Dickerson in 1984, finishing just 8 yards short at 2,097 (he broke the 2,000 yard barrier in the second quarter of the game). All that, and he’ll still probably be snubbed for the MVP award because that is informally confined to quarterbacks only (it’s a very rare year that a non-quarterback wins, and Peyton Manning is having a fantastic season…)
Now I have to try to write a recap. I may need a shot of something first. Holy hell.
— The Daily Norseman (@DailyNorseman) December 31, 2012
He did finally get something written:
So … how was your day?
What an amazing, incredible football game we just witnessed. Obviously, from the perspective of Vikings fans, pretty much everything about this game was incredible, but it’s hard to attempt to verbalize it so soon after the fact. But I’m going to give it a go anyway.
Adrian Peterson is the Most Valuable Player in the National Football League. He’s the best player in the National Football League, regardless of position. Even though he came up just short of Eric Dickerson’s single-season rushing record … just nine yards short, thanks to a big 26-yard dash at the end to set up Blair Walsh’s 29-yard field goal to give them the victory. Honestly, how many games do the 2012 Minnesota Vikings win without Adrian Peterson? Two? Three, tops? Nobody in the National Football League has had a better season, nor has any player in the National Football League meant more to their team, than Adrian Peterson. And the greatest part is that, well, he didn’t give a damn about the record, if Pam Oliver’s ambush interview after the game is any indication.
[. . .]
This team was left for dead so many times this season. They were left for dead before the year even started, as most “experts” projected them to be the fourth team in a three-team division. They were left for dead after the Tampa Bay Buccaneers crushed them on Thursday Night Football in Week 8. They were left for dead after they lost Percy Harvin for the season. And, most recently, they were left for dead after the disaster at Lambeau Field just four weeks ago. All they’ve done since then is win four straight games and take a hold of the final playoff spot in the NFC. Let’s make that perfectly clear … the Minnesota Vikings didn’t “back into” the 2012 NFL playoffs. They took that spot. . .they earned that spot … just a year removed from a 3-13 dumpster fire disaster of a season and one of the NFL’s youngest teams.
VIDEO: Watch full highlights of today’s dramatic 37-34 #Vikings win bit.ly/X8t2hW #Skol #GBvsMIN
— Minnesota Vikings (@VikingsFootball) December 31, 2012
#Vikings distributed, no joke, 4 pages of team records broken this season, mostly by Adrian Peterson and Blair Walsh.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) December 31, 2012
That was a mighty good game of football, all-righty.
Comment by Brian Dunbar — December 31, 2012 @ 12:54