Fumbling for answers.

Having watched a lot more film of the Saints/Vikings game I've now made a decision. I've decided not to continue to harp on about how the Saints were the fortunate recipients of multiple turnovers. I've decided I'm not going to mention the fact that like so many teams this season, the Vikings basically gifted the game to the Saints by messing up their last possession, pushing themselves to the brink of field goal range before finally deciding that it wasn't enough, and instead turned the ball over to the Saints, just to make sure they didn't do something silly like kick a game winning field goal. I've decided I'm not going to bang on about the Saints repeated late hits on QB Bret Favre, which a more cynical person than myself might think were a deliberate and unsporting attempt to injure him and force him out of the game. I'm not even going to bring up the overtime pass intereference call that never was or the incompletion that was somehow ruled a catch, even after booth review. No, I'm going to take this opportunity to pounce on Adrian Peterson. For long enough I've listened to the claim that Peterson is the greatest natural football player in the league etc, etc. Two things strike me. a) Last season he had more carries than any other back in the league and so surprise, surprise, he topped the league in rushing yards. This year he had the fourth most attempts and finished fifth in total yards. He had more carries last year than Chris Johnson did this year, yet Johnson came up over 200 yards better. His average yards per carry this year was well short of many of the other top notch Running backs in the league. And of course b) he fumbles the ball like it was going out of fashion, leading the league among running backs. Just like he did the previous year (we'll ignore the fact that Frank Gore came second in 2008, because he's a 49er, and therefore above all criticism). And not only does he have problems holding onto the ball, it always seems to crop up at the most crucial moments, or what's otherwise know around where I live as 'a bottle job'. When the big stage comes calling and it's do or die time, Peterson dies like a Salmon flailing in the jaws of a big Grizzly Bear. That's why I have a hard time digesting him as the greatest back in the league and 'the most naturally gifted football player in the NFL'. (I'm not really sure who does qualify for that title, but Chris Johnson is certainly up there as is, bizzarely, Browns NT Shaun Rogers). Ahhhh, that's better. Rant over.