NFL Old School Game of the Week: Peterson's Breakthrough Performance Leads Vikings to Win over Bears

 

Vikings running back Adrian Peterson complied 361 all purpose yards in a 2007 game with the Bears.

There are times in an athlete's career where a certain play or performance tells the world that this athlete is special and is going to be a force for years to come.

Such was the case for Adrian Peterson as he put together a performance for the ages in the Minnesota Vikings' Week 6 game with the Chicago Bears during the 2007 season.

The Vikings came into the game with a 1-3 record under second-year head coach Brad Childress, who was hoping to improve on a 6-10 season in 2006 as Minnesota hoped to return to the postseason for the first time since 2004.

The Vikings used their top pick in the 2007 NFL draft to select Peterson with the #7 overall pick despite already having running back Chester Taylor who had run for 1,216 yards during the previous season.

Peterson ran for 103 yards in the Vikings' season opener, a 24-3 win over the Atlanta Falcons, as Minnesota would lose their next three games despite Peterson running for over 100 yards in two of those games.

The bye came at just right the time for the Vikings following Minnesota's third straight loss which allowed starting quarterback Tavares Jackson, who had missed two games because of a groin injury, to return to the lineup as the Vikings traveled to Chicago to take on their division rivals.

The Bears came into the game with a 2-3 record as Chicago was seeking a return trip to the Super Bowl after falling to the Indianapolis Colts 29-17 eight months earlier in Super Bowl XLI.

However, things got off to a bad start as starting quarterback Rex Grossman accounted for 10 turnovers in the Bears' first three games leading to head coach Lovie Smith to bench him in favor of Brian Griese.

Griese lost his first start against the Detroit Lions but won his second start against the Green Bay Packers as the Bears' best offense remained their kick returner Devin Hester, who after returning a combined six kicks back for touchdowns in 2006, had already returned one punt and one kickoff for a touchdown in Chicago's first five games of the season.

After the Bears punted on their opening possession of the game, the Vikings took over at their 14-yard-line as it took them six plays to travel to their 40-yard-line until Peterson got his first carry of the game which would go for no gain.

Peterson would get loose on his next carry as he would run for 27 yards to put the Vikings at the Bears' 33-yard-line as the next three plays would net zero yards as Minnesota would punt the ball back to Chicago who would start their next drive at their 20-yard-line.

The Vikings would force the Bears to punt again to get the ball back at their 19-yard-line as Peterson would catch a nine-yard pass from Jackson to start the drive, then got three carries for five yards before Minnesota punted the ball back to Chicago.

That is when the "Windy City Flyer" struck as Hester would return the ensuing punt 89 yards for a touchdown to give the Bears a 7-0 lead with 1:56 left in the first quarter.

Peterson would return the ensuing kickoff 22 yards to the Minnesota 26-yard-line as it would take three plays for the Vikings to drive to their 40-yard-line until Jackson connected with Troy Williamson on a 60-yard touchdown that with the extra point tied the game at seven as the first quarter came to an end.

Chicago would start its next possession at their 33-yard-line as it would take them six plays to get back into the end zone as Griese would throw a 30-yard touchdown pass to Bernard Berrian to give the Bears a 14-7 lead with 11:45 to go in the second quarter.

The two teams would trade punts until 4:22 left in the second quarter when the Vikings took over at their 20-yard-line as Jackson would complete a nine-yard pass to Robert Ferguson, then handed the ball off to Taylor who would run for four yards to pick up a 1st down before getting another carry that would go for no gain that would set up 2nd & 10 at the Minnesota 33-yard-line.

That is when Peterson took a handoff from Jackson, ran to his left before cutting to his right, then broke the tackle of Bears free safety Brandon McGowan on his way to a 67-yard touchdown to help tie the game at 14 with 2:19 left before halftime.

The Bears would begin their next possession at their 30-yard-line as Griese would complete two straight passes for 17 yards to give Chicago a 1st down at their 47-yard-line as Griese would then two straight incomplete passes before firing a nine-yard pass to Mark Bradley to set up a 4th & 1 at the Minnesota 44-yard-line.

Chicago would go for the 1st down only to have Griese fumble the football which was recovered by Minnesota defensive tackle Pat Williams to give the Vikings the ball at their 43-yard-line.

The Vikings would go three-and-out to give the ball back to the Bears who took over at their 20-yard-line as they would drive to their 36-yard-line before fumbling the ball to the Vikings on the final play of the first half as the game remain tied at 14.

Devin Hester would return a punt for a touchdown to go along with a 81-yard touchdown reception.

The third quarter would be a stalemate until 2:44 left in the third quarter when Peterson put together his second long touchdown of the game, this one for 73 yards to give the Vikings their first lead of the game at 21-14.

The Bears would get the ball back at their 35-yard-line as Griese would complete three of his next four passes for 18 yards to move Chicago into Viking territory at the Minnesota 48-yard-line until he was intercepted by Vikings linebacker Ben Leber on the final play of the third quarter to give the ball back to the Vikings at their 36-yard-line.

The Vikings would drive to the Bears' 30-yard-line before settling for a 48-yard field goal by Ryan Longwell to extend Minnesota's lead to 24-14 with 11:31 to go in the fourth quarter.

Chicago would get great field position to start its next possession as the Vikings kicked away from Hester as Rashied Davis would return the ensuing kickoff 20 yards to the Bears' 42-yard-line.

A 31-yard pass from Griese to tight end Greg Olsen would help set up a 32-yard field goal by Robbie Gould to cut the Vikings' lead to 24-17 with 8:37 to go in regulation.

The Vikings would begin their next possession at their 32-yard-line as they would drive to the Bears' 35-yard-line until Peterson ran down the right sideline as he avoided three attempt by Chicago tacklers to knock him out of bounds as the rookie would cross the 200-yard mark on his third touchdown of the game to increase the Vikings' lead to 31-17 with 4:10 remaining in in the game.

The game appeared to be over especially when on the Bears' next play from scrimmage, Griese was picked off by Vikings free safety Dwight Smith on a pass intended for Mushin Muhammad to give Minnesota the ball at its 26-yard-line with a chance to run out the clock.

However, the Bears defense would force a three-and-out to give their offense the ball back at their 47-yard-line with 2:56 left in regulation.

Griese would complete a 20-yard pass to Berrian to start the drive then after an incomplete pass, Brian hit Muhammad for a 33-yard touchdown that will cut the Vikings' lead to 31-24 with 2:36 to go in the fourth quarter.

The Bears would attempt an onside kick but the Vikings would recover as they would take over at the Chicago 39-yard-line with another chance to run out the clock.

But the Vikings would go backwards as they would lose seven yards on three straight running plays, forcing them to punt the ball back to the Bears who would take over at their 19-yard-line with 1:53 left on the clock and no timeouts.

After an incomplete pass on 1st down, Griese would throw a bomb for Hester, who would make the catch at the Minnesota 35-yard-line,and then outrun the Minnesota defense to go into the end zone for the shocking 81-yard touchdown that with Gould's extra point tied the game at 31 with 1:38 left in regulation.

After giving up two touchdowns in less than a minute, the Vikings seemed to be on their heels until the ensuing kickoff when Peterson struck again as his 53-yard return would put Minnesota at the Bears' 38-yard-line with exactly 90 seconds to go.

Ryan Longwell raises his arms in celebration after his game-winning field goal.

Taylor would run for five yards on 1st down to seemingly put the Vikings in field goal range only for Jackson to throw an incomplete pass on 2nd down which was followed by Peterson being dropped for a four-yard loss as Minnesota would run the clock down to four seconds left before calling timeout and sending in Longwell to attempt a 55-yard field goal.

Despite having a chance to end the game in regulation, the game seemed destined for overtime as Longwell had never made a kick of longer than 55 yards in his entire career to go along with the fact that his longest field goal up to this point in the season had been 49 yards.

But Longwell would make the kick as the ball barely barley crossed the crossbar as time expired to give the Vikings a 34-31 win, thanks in large part to Peterson's 224-yard performance on 20 carries to go along with his four kickoff returns for 128 yards.

The Bears would not get over their Super Bowl hangover as they would go on to finish the season with a 7-9 record as Chicago would not return to the postseason until 2010.

As for the Vikings, they would go on to finish the season with an 8-8 record as Peterson would be named the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year after he ran for 1,341 yards including his 296-yard performance in a win against the San Diego Chargers to set the single game record for most rushing yards inn one NFL game.

Peterson would go on to a spectacular career as he would run for 14,918 yards over the course of his 15-year career to currently land at 5th place on the NFL's career rushing yards list.