By Mike Weimerskirch PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer MINNEAPOLIS (Ticker) -- Adrian Peterson's mere presence seemedto inspire the Minnesota Vikings. After missing two games with a knee injury, Peterson rushed for116 yards and two touchdowns on just 15 carries as the Vikingscoasted to a 42-10 victory over the fading Detroit Lions onSunday. Sidelined since suffering a torn lateral collateral ligament atGreen Bay on November 11, the rookie still leads the NFL inrushing despite sitting out the two contests. "I was able to test out catching the ball in space, the powerzone, inside and outside, everything felt pretty good," Petersonsaid. "After the first couple of plays, I was back into mygroove." Sunday marked the sixth time in 10 games that Peterson has goneover the century mark. That includes an NFL-record 296 yardsagainst the San Diego Chargers on November 4. Chester Taylor, who started in Peterson's absence the last twoweeks, chipped in with 70 yards and a score on 14 carries. "Clearly, we have two different styles," Peterson said. "Butit's good to have two backs in there that can get the job done.It's tough for a defense to defend that." Tarvaris Jackson tossed a pair of touchdown passes for theVikings, who kept the Lions reeling with a 35-point first half. "Last year, when things weren't open, I'd take off and run, butnow I'm giving my guys another chance to come open downfield,"Jackson said. Minnesota pulled even with the Lions in the NFC North at 6-6 butthe teams are heading in opposite directions. The Vikings have won three straight and four of five, while theLions have dropped four in a row following a 6-2 start. "We talked about building habits," Vikings coach Brad Childresssaid. "Psychologists tell us ... 21 days it takes to build ahabit, whether it's biting your nails or winning." The Lions have fallen into a bad habit of losing as their oncecomfortable playoff position is starting to slip away. "Anytime you get beat that bad, that's just not NFL football,"Lions quarterback Jon Kitna said. "We are not heading in thesame direction right now." Kitna completed 27-of-36 for 260 yards, but threw a pass thatKenechi Udeze intercepted and returned 37 yards just beforehalftime, setting up the Vikings' fifth touchdown. Detroit closed to 14-10 on Kitna's 1-yard TD pass to CaseyFitzsimmons with 9:41 remaining in the first half. But any hopes of the Lions staying in the game quickly ended asAundrae Allison returned the ensuing kickoff 103 yards for atouchdown. "They lined up awkward," Allison said. "I saw they loaded theleft side and we had called a bounce to the right, so I knew itcould be a big play." The electrifying run was part of a 28-point second quarter, asJackson threw TD passes of 6 yards to Bobby Wade and 15 yards toSidney Rice in the final 2:22 of the period. Peterson added a 15-yard TD run just under five minutes into thesecond half to make it 42-10.
NFL: DETROIT at MINNESOTA <div class="pre">NFL FINAL 1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH TOTAL --- --- --- --- ----- DETROIT 3 7 0 0 10 MINNESOTA 7 28 7 0 42 FINAL SCORING SUMMARY 1ST QUARTER: MIN - TD, CHESTER TAYLOR 2 YD RUN (RYAN LONGWELL KICK), 7:36. Drive: 9 plays, 87 yards in 5:17. Key plays: Taylor 15-yard run on 3rd-and-14 to Minnesota 24; Jackson 12-yard pass to Wade to Minnesota 36; Jackson 17-yard pass to Wade to Detroit 44; Peterson 28-yard run to Detroit 16; Taylor 14-yard run to Detroit 2. MINNESOTA 7-0 DET - FG, JASON HANSON 37 YD, 13:03. Drive: 11 plays, 42 yards in 5:27. Key plays: Cason 35-yard kick return to Detroit 40; Kitna 6-yard pass to Furrey on 3rd-and-3 to Minnesota 36; Kitna 11-yard pass to Jones to Minnesota 25. MINNESOTA 7-3 2ND QUARTER: MIN - TD, ADRIAN PETERSON 16 YD RUN (RYAN LONGWELL KICK), 3:37. Drive: 10 plays, 84 yards in 5:34. Key plays: Jackson 10-yard pass to Peterson to Minnesota 26; Jackson 13-yard pass to Rice on 3rd-and-6 to Minnesota 43; Jackson 35-yard pass to Allison to Detroit 22; Richardson 2-yard run on 3rd-and-1 to Detroit 11. MINNESOTA 14-3 DET - TD, CASEY FITZSIMMONS 1 YD PASS FROM JON KITNA (JASON HANSON KICK), 5:23. Drive: 4 plays, 73 yards in 1:46. Key plays: Kitna 24-yard pass to Williams to Minnesota 49; Kitna 43-yard pass to Williams to Minnesota 6. MINNESOTA 14-10 MIN - TD, AUNDRAE ALLISON 103 YD KICKOFF RETURN (RYAN LONGWELL KICK), 5:37. MINNESOTA 21-10 MIN - TD, BOBBY WADE 6 YD PASS FROM TARVARIS JACKSON (RYAN LONGWELL KICK), 12:43. Drive: 10 plays, 51 yards in 5:31. Key plays: Peterson 11-yard run to Detroit 31; Jackson 10-yard run on 3rd-and-7 to Detroit 5. MINNESOTA 28-10 MIN - TD, SIDNEY RICE 2 YD PASS FROM TARVARIS JACKSON (RYAN LONGWELL KICK), 14:55. Drive: 5 plays, 27 yards in 0:48. Key plays: Udeze 37-yard interception return to Detroit 27; Peterson 13-yard run to Detroit 14; Jackson 11-yard pass to Richardson to Detroit 5. MINNESOTA 35-10 3RD QUARTER: MIN - TD, ADRIAN PETERSON 13 YD RUN (RYAN LONGWELL KICK), 4:54. Drive: 9 plays, 66 yards in 4:54. Key plays: Peterson 10-yard run to Detroit 45; Jackson 22-yard pass to Rice to Detroit 23; Jackson 6-yard pass to Rice on 3rd-and-6 to Detroit 13. MINNESOTA 42-10 4TH QUARTER: NONE ATT: 62,996</div>
NFL: DETROIT at MINNESOTA <div class="pre">NFL FINAL 1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH TOTAL --- --- --- --- ----- DETROIT 3 7 0 0 10 MINNESOTA 7 28 7 0 42 FINAL SCORING SUMMARY 1ST QUARTER: 7:36 MIN - TD, CHESTER TAYLOR 2 YD RUN (RYAN LONGWELL KICK). Drive: 9 plays, 87 yards in 5:17. Key plays: Taylor 15-yard run on 3rd-and-14 to Minnesota 24; Jackson 12-yard pass to Wade to Minnesota 36; Jackson 17-yard pass to Wade to Detroit 44; Peterson 28-yard run to Detroit 16; Taylor 14-yard run to Detroit 2. MINNESOTA 7-0. 13:03 DET - FG, JASON HANSON 37 YD. Drive: 11 plays, 42 yards in 5:27. Key plays: Cason 35-yard kick return to Detroit 40; Kitna 6-yard pass to Furrey on 3rd-and-3 to Minnesota 36; Kitna 11-yard pass to Jones to Minnesota 25. MINNESOTA 7-3. 2ND QUARTER: 3:37 MIN - TD, ADRIAN PETERSON 16 YD RUN (RYAN LONGWELL KICK). Drive: 10 plays, 84 yards in 5:34. Key plays: Jackson 10-yard pass to Peterson to Minnesota 26; Jackson 13-yard pass to Rice on 3rd-and-6 to Minnesota 43; Jackson 35-yard pass to Allison to Detroit 22; Richardson 2-yard run on 3rd-and-1 to Detroit 11. MINNESOTA 14-3. 5:23 DET - TD, CASEY FITZSIMMONS 1 YD PASS FROM JON KITNA (JASON HANSON KICK). Drive: 4 plays, 73 yards in 1:46. Key plays: Kitna 24-yard pass to Williams to Minnesota 49; Kitna 43-yard pass to Williams to Minnesota 6. MINNESOTA 14-10. 5:37 MIN - TD, AUNDRAE ALLISON 103 YD KICKOFF RETURN (RYAN LONGWELL KICK). MINNESOTA 21-10. 12:43 MIN - TD, BOBBY WADE 6 YD PASS FROM TARVARIS JACKSON (RYAN LONGWELL KICK). Drive: 10 plays, 51 yards in 5:31. Key plays: Peterson 11-yard run to Detroit 31; Jackson 10-yard run on 3rd-and-7 to Detroit 5. MINNESOTA 28-10. 14:55 MIN - TD, SIDNEY RICE 2 YD PASS FROM TARVARIS JACKSON (RYAN LONGWELL KICK). Drive: 5 plays, 27 yards in 0:48. Key plays: Udeze 37-yard interception return to Detroit 27; Peterson 13-yard run to Detroit 14; Jackson 11-yard pass to Richardson to Detroit 5. MINNESOTA 35-10. 3RD QUARTER: 4:54 MIN - TD, ADRIAN PETERSON 13 YD RUN (RYAN LONGWELL KICK). Drive: 9 plays, 66 yards in 4:54. Key plays: Peterson 10-yard run to Detroit 45; Jackson 22-yard pass to Rice to Detroit 23; Jackson 6-yard pass to Rice on 3rd-and-6 to Detroit 13. MINNESOTA 42-10. 4TH QUARTER: NONE DETROIT - MINNESOTA Final Statistics TEAM STATISTICS DETROIT MINNESOTA FIRST DOWNS 14 29 Rushing 2 15 Passing 12 13 Penalty 0 1 THIRD DOWN EFFICIENCY 3-10-30% 6-10-60% FOURTH DOWN EFFICIENCY 1-1-100% 1-1-100% TOTAL NET YARDS 254 443 Total offensive plays 46 66 Average gain per play 5.5 6.7 NET YARDS RUSHING 23 216 Rushing attempts 7 39 Average gain per rush 3.3 5.5 Tackles for loss-yards 1-3 3-5 NET YARDS PASSING 231 227 Times sacked: Number-Yards 3-29 1-4 Gross passing yards 260 231 PASS ATTEMPTS-COMPLETIONS-HAD INTERCEPTED 36-27-1 26-19-1 Avg gain per pass play 5.9 8.4 KICKOFFS: Number-In End Zone-Touchbacks 3-1-0 7-3-0 PUNTS: Number and Average 5-44.4 1-41.0 Had blocked 0 0 Net punting average 44.4 31.0 TOTAL RETURN YARDAGE (Not including kickoffs) 13 47 Number-Yards: Punt Returns 0-0 1-10 Number-Yards: Kickoff Returns 7-171 3-143 Number-Yards: Interception Returns 1-13 1-37 PENALTIES: Number-Yards 6-48 4-25 FUMBLES: Number-Lost 4-0 0-0 TOUCHDOWNS 1 6 Rushing 0 3 Passing 1 2 Interceptions 0 0 Other (blocked kicks, etc.) 0 1 EXTRA POINTS: Made-Attempts 1-1 6-6 Kicking: Made-Attempts 1-1 6-6 Passing: Made-Attempts 0-0 0-0 Rushing: Made-Attempts 0-0 0-0 FIELD GOALS: Made-Attempts 1-1 0-0 FGs - PATs had blocked 0-0 0-0 RED ZONE EFFICIENCY 1-2-50% 5-6-83% GOAL TO GO EFFICIENCY 1-1-100% 3-4-75% SAFETIES 0 0 TIME OF POSSESSION 22:58 37:02 INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS DETROIT MINNESOTA RUSHING ATT YDS AVG LG TD RUSHING ATT YDS AVG LG TD -------------------------------------- -------------------------------------- T DUCKETT 3 22 7.3 18 0 A PETERSON 15 116 7.7 28 2 K JONES 3 1 0.3 4 0 C TAYLOR 14 70 5.0 15 1 J O'SULLIV 1 0 0.0 0 0 T JACKSON 5 20 4.0 10 0 M MOORE 3 4 1.3 5 0 J DUGAN 1 4 4.0 4 0 T RICHARDS 1 2 2.0 2 0 PASSING CM-AT-YDS IN TD LG PASSING CM-AT-YDS IN TD LG -------------------------------------- -------------------------------------- J KITNA 27-36-260 1 1 43 T JACKSON 18-24-204 1 2 35 C KLUWE 1- 1- 27 0 0 27 C TAYLOR 0- 1- 0 0 0 0 Sacked-Yards Lost: J KITNA 3-29. Sacked-Yards Lost: T JACKSON 1-4. RECEIVING NO YDS AVG LG TD RECEIVING NO YDS AVG LG TD -------------------------------------- -------------------------------------- M FURREY 7 57 8.1 11 0 S RICE 5 53 10.6 22 1 S MCDONALD 6 54 9.0 15 0 B WADE 4 54 13.5 19 1 R WILLIAMS 5 85 17.0 43 0 A ALLISON 2 52 26.0 35 0 K JONES 3 16 5.3 11 0 J DUGAN 2 29 14.5 27 0 T WALTERS 2 14 7.0 8 0 C TAYLOR 2 17 8.5 10 0 C JOHNSON 1 17 17.0 17 0 T RICHARDS 1 11 11.0 11 0 A CASON 1 11 11.0 11 0 A PETERSON 1 10 10.0 10 0 S MCHUGH 1 5 5.0 5 0 V SHIANCOE 1 7 7.0 7 0 C FITZSIMM 1 1 1.0 1 1 R FERGUSON 1 -2 -2.0 0 0 INTERCEPTIONS NO YDS AVG LG TD INTERCEPTIONS NO YDS AVG LG TD -------------------------------------- -------------------------------------- T FISHER 1 13 13.0 13 0 K UDEZE 1 37 37.0 37 0 PUNTING NO YDS AVG T I LG PUNTING NO YDS AVG T I LG -------------------------------------- -------------------------------------- N HARRIS 5 222 44.4 0 3 52 C KLUWE 1 41 41.0 1 0 41 T = Touchbacks, I = Inside 20 PUNT RETURNS NO YDS AVG LG TD PUNT RETURNS NO YDS AVG LG TD -------------------------------------- -------------------------------------- M MOORE 1 10 10.0 10 0 KICKOFF RETURNS NO YDS AVG LG TD KICKOFF RETURNS NO YDS AVG LG TD -------------------------------------- -------------------------------------- A CASON 6 161 26.8 35 0 A ALLISON 3 143 47.7103 1 M FURREY 1 10 10.0 10 0 KICKING XP/XPA FG/FGA KICKING XP/XPA FG/FGA ---------------------------------- ---------------------------------- J HANSON 1/1 1/1 R LONGWELL 6/6 0/0 Dist.: 37 O-D O-D FUMBLES NO LOST FF REC FUMBLES NO LOST FF REC ------------------------------------ ------------------------------------ J KITNA 3 0 0 2-0 E HENDERSON 0 0 1 0-0 J O'SULLIVAN 1 0 0 1-0 DEFENSE TK SO AS SK-YD DEFENSE TK SO AS SK-YD ------------------------------------ ------------------------------------ E SIMS 11 8 3 0-0 C GRIFFIN 7 7 0 0-0 P LENON 9 7 2 0-0 M MCCAULEY 7 5 2 0-0 T FISHER 6 4 2 0-0 C GORDON 5 4 1 0-0 K KENNEDY 5 3 2 0-0 E HENDERSON 4 4 0 1-8 G ALEXANDER 4 3 1 0-0 D SHARPER 3 3 0 0-0 A LEWIS 3 3 0 0-0 J MITCHELL 2 2 0 1-12 F BRYANT 3 2 1 0-0 R WHITAKER 2 2 0 0-0 K SMITH 3 1 2 0-0 P WILLIAMS 2 1 1 0-0 T LEHMAN 2 2 0 0-0 K WILLIAMS 1 1 0 1-9 L HICKS 2 2 0 0-0 D SMITH 1 1 0 0-0 C REDDING 2 2 0 0-0 B LEBER 1 1 0 0-0 L MOORE 2 2 0 0-0 E JAMES 1 1 0 0-0 S ROGERS 2 1 1 0-0 S JOHNSON 1 1 0 0-0 S CODY 2 1 1 0-0 K UDEZE 1 1 0 0-0 T BECKHAM 2 1 1 0-0 J DEVRIES 1 1 0 1-4 D WHITE 1 1 0 0-0 Officials: Referee-Larry Nemmers, Umpire-Carl Paganelli, Head Linesman-Mark Baltz, Line Judge-Michael Spanier, Field Judge-Eddie Powers, Side Judge-Cartlon Cheffers, Back Judge-Dino Paganelli. Att: 62,996 Time of Game: 2:59</div>
