Vikings Flashback: Peterson leads Minnesota past the Packers in 2012

In 2012, the Minnesota Vikings ended their regular season with a win over the Green Bay Packers.

The Minnesota Vikings and Green Bay Packers are set to kick off their season this Sunday inside U.S. Bank Stadium. What a way to start the season with one of the biggest rivalries in all of sports. Sure there will be no fans in the stands, but there is still the excitement of Week 1 and this rivalry is always fun for the players and fans of both teams.

Both teams are coming off of playoff seasons and the Packers were able to win the NFC North for the first time since 2016. How will this year go for both teams? This will be very interesting to find out as both Minnesota and Green Bay have a shot to win the division this season.

Against the Vikings, the Packers have won their last two meetings and they lead the all-time series 62-54-3. But this is a brand new season and a lot can happen.

The Minnesota Vikings had a memorable win over their rival at the end of the 2012 season

During the final game of the 2012 regular season, Minnesota was able to pull out a 37-34 win over Green Bay inside the old Metrodome. The victory clinched a playoff berth for the Vikings and gave them a final record of 10-6.

Minnesota running back Adrian Peterson continued his outstanding season by finishing this matchup against the Packers with 199 yards and two touchdowns on 35 touches. In 2012, Peterson ended with 2,097 rushing yards which was just nine yards short of breaking Eric Dickerson’s single-season rushing record that he set back in 1984.

After finding out that he didn’t break Dickerson’s record, Peterson made it clear that his priorities were on something much bigger.

"“It wasn’t meant to happen, or it would’ve happened. Not to say it doesn’t hurt, because it does. But we came in here tonight and accomplished the ultimate goal, and that was getting a win and punching our ticket to the playoffs.”"

In addition to racking up more than 2,000 yards on the ground in 2012, Peterson also rushed for 12 touchdowns and ended up being named the NFL MVP.

Along with the great performance from their running back in the Week 17 win over Green Bay, Vikings quarterback Christian Ponder completed 16 of his 28 pass attempts for 234 yards and three touchdowns. Minnesota receiver Jarius Wright finished with three catches for 90 yards and a touchdown while Everson Griffen recorded three of the team’s five sacks in the game.

The Vikings ended up getting the victory after kicker Blair Walsh drilled the game-winning field goal from 29 yards away as time expired.

In a losing effort, Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers completed 28 of his 40 pass attempts for 365 yards and four touchdowns, running back DuJuan Harris rushed for 70 yards on 14 carries, and wide receiver Greg Jennings ended the day with eight catches for 120 yards and two touchdowns.

Unfortunately, Minnesota’s 2012 season came to a close during the very next week at Lambeau Field with a 24-10 loss to Green Bay.