Back during the final week of the 2012 NFL season, Adrian Peterson and the Minnesota Vikings snuck by the Green Bay Packers by a final score of 37-34.
Heading into his team’s Week 17 matchup against the Green Bay Packers in 2012, Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson was just 102 rushing yards shy of becoming the seventh player in NFL history to rush for at least 2,000 yards in a single season.
Peterson was just four weeks removed from rushing for 210 yards against the Packers in a Week 13 contest inside Lambeau Field. So the chances of the Vikings running back making history in his second meeting with Green Bay felt pretty high.
Minnesota didn’t waste any time once the Week 17 game began, as their very first offensive play was a handoff to Peterson. 60 minutes later, history would be made.
Adrian Peterson carried the Minnesota Vikings to a Week 17 win over the Green Bay Packers in 2012
Peterson didn’t get off to a blazing-fast start in the contest, as he gained 15 yards on three carries during the Vikings’ opening drive, which wound up ending with Blair Walsh knocking down a 54-yard field goal to put Minnesota up 3-0 early over the Packers.
The Vikings’ second offensive drive of the matchup is really where Peterson started to take over. Minnesota ran seven plays on the drive and their top running back got his hands on the ball during five of these plays.
Peterson gained 46 rushing yards on his five rushing attempts during the drive and his final carry saw him travel seven yards into the end zone for the Vikings’ first touchdown of the day.
So after two drives, Minnesota’s veteran running back only needed 41 more yards on the ground to reach the 2,000 mark for the season.
Peterson had another five rushing attempts on the Vikings’ third offensive drive of the matchup, but this time, Green Bay was able to get the best of him. The Packers held Peterson to just seven rushing yards on five attempts during this drive, but luckily, Minnesota was still able to add three more points to their total after Walsh knocked down another field goal.
After one quarter, Peterson had already rushed for 68 yards, and it was only just a matter of time before he etched his name in the NFL record books.
The Vikings walked onto the field for their first offensive drive of the second half and their star running back was now just 11 rushing yards short of 2,000.
Minnesota’s first play of the third quarter was, unsurprisingly, a handoff to Peterson. The Vikings running back took the football and proceeded to gain 20 yards on the ground, meaning he had just gained enough to become the seventh player in league history to rush for at least 2,000 yards in a single season.
Peterson wasn’t done after that carry though. He went on to rush for a total of 108 yards in the second half, which played a significant role in Minnesota leaving the field that day with a 37-34 victory over Green Bay.
Peterson’s record-setting final performance of the regular season saw him rush for 199 yards and score two touchdowns (one rushing, one receiving) against the Packers.
He ended up finishing the 2012 campaign with a total of 2,097 rushing yards, just eight yards short of tying the NFL’s all-time record of 2,105 yards set by Eric Dickerson in 1984 when he was a member of the Los Angeles Rams.