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CHICAGO – No matter where or how he got the ball Sunday, Adrian Peterson seemed to find the opening in the Chicago Bears’ defense.
Through the line, around the end, across the field with a split-second cutback and even on kickoff returns, he made the Bears miss.
Peterson’s record-setting performance put the Minnesota Vikings in position for victory, one they secured Sunday when Ryan Longwell kicked a career-long 55-yard field goal on the final play to beat the Bears 34-31.
“I just got comfortable, more comfortable with the speed of the game,” Peterson said after showcasing the talent that made him the first running back taken in this year’s draft.
“I knew anything was possible.”
With a blend of power and speed, the rookie from Oklahoma finished with 224 rushing yards on 20 carries and scored on runs of 67, 73 and 35 yards. He broke Chuck Foreman’s club-record of 200 yards rushing set against the Eagles in 1976, and gained the most yards against the Bears in their 88-year history.
“We stunk. We played horrible,” Bears defensive end Alex Brown said. “He’s a good player, but … he shouldn’t get that many yards.”
Peterson set up Longwell’s game-winner by returning a kickoff 53 yards. His afternoon at Soldier Field overshadowed a great one from the Bears’ Devin Hester, who returned a punt 89 yards for a score and caught a game-tying 81-yard TD pass from Brian Griese with 1:38 left.
“It’s kind of crazy,” Peterson said. “Guys come up to me and they say, `When you got the ball it’s kind of like holding your breath.’ I experience that when that guy (Hester) is on the field. I’m holding my breath knowing he can take it to the house any time he touches the ball.”
After the Griese-to-Hester connection tied it up, Peterson returned the ensuing kickoff to the Bears 38.
Why did the Bears kick to Peterson after he’d run all over the field?
“Of course, he’s a big threat. They only needed a field goal,” Bears coach Lovie Smith said. “We haven’t gone into many games where we don’t kick the ball to the player. We thought we would get good field position, and go from there.”
After Peterson was thrown for a 4-yard loss back to the 37 on third down, Longwell floated a kick that just cleared the crossbar, setting off a Vikings celebration at Soldier Field.
“It was on line. I couldn’t tell how far it cleared, but I knew it wouldn’t be much,” Longwell said.
Peterson’s 35-yard TD run with 4:10 left put the Vikings ahead 31-17, but the Bears came back.
Muhsin Muhammad caught a 33-yard TD pass from Griese with 2:36 remaining. After the Vikings recovered an onside kick at the Bears 40, Chicago held and forced a punt, taking over at its 19 with 1:53 to go.
On second down, Griese dropped back and lofted the long pass to Hester. The kick return specialist made a nice move and raced by Dwight Smith, catching the ball at the 35 and completing the touchdown.
Peterson’s energizing runs came on a day when Tarvaris Jackson returned as Minnesota’s quarterback after missing two games with a groin injury. He completed only 9 of 23 passes for 136 yards.
Peterson went through the middle, made a fake, cut back to the left and ran away from the Bears secondary on the 73-yard score late in the third quarter. That put the Vikings up 21-14.
Late in the first half, he stormed through a hole on the left side, broke the tackle of Bears safety Brandon McGowan, reversed his field and outran the Chicago defense to tie the game.
“It’s kind of a blur. The guys created a hole. I pressed the line of scrimmage and that cutback was there and it was a big gap,” Peterson said. “And it was off to the races.”
Griese finished 26 of 45 for 381 yards and a pair of interceptions in his third start, and first at home, since replacing Rex Grossman as Chicago’s starter.