The Minnesota Vikings on Sunday had their worst performance of the season since Week 1, as they were blown out by the Seattle Seahawks from the opening snap. After the 38-7 loss, Adrian Peterson said everyone on the team deserves part of the blame.
And he didn’t give the coaching staff a free pass.
“I felt like we were out of sync,” Peterson told reporters, via Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk. “Definitely give credit to Seattle; they did a good job of coming in and forcing us to do things differently. They were just the better team. They were more aggressive, more physical, and they outcoached us as well.”
When asked to elaborate on the coaching comment, Peterson wasn’t shy.
“In so many different areas,” he said. “And outplayed in so many different areas for us players as well.”
You can’t really argue with that, though it is unusual for a player to take the liberty of placing blame on his coaching staff. Coincidentally, we heard similar comments from another star running back about his own team earlier this season.
Peterson was limited to just 18 yards on eight carries, and a lot of that had to do with the Vikings digging themselves into a massive hole early. Minnesota is still tied for the lead atop the NFC North with an 8-4 record, but they have had several chances to prove they are ready to take the next step and be a contender in the NFC. They haven’t really seized that opportunity, and Sunday may have been rock bottom in that regard.
