Week 17 Roundup

Playoff football. When the brass ring is right in front of you, you got to grab it with both hands. That’s what Minnesota and San Diego did on the final Sunday of the regular season.

Adrian Peterson wasn’t going to let the defending champions, or a recent bout with fumble-it, keep him from the Mighty Purple’s appointed postseason date. All Day coughed one up early in the game with New York, but rallied in a big, big way. As in an offtackle blast that turned into a 67-yard sprint to paydirt. That gave his squad a 10-0 lead. The Vikes had to score 10 more late in the game, including a field goal at the gun, to win 20-19 and wrap up the division title and a home playoff game next week against Philly.

Peterson finished with 103 yards on 21 carries. That gave AD 1,657 on the season, more than enough for a second straight rushing title. Peterson also becomes the fifth player in league history to reach 3,000 yards in his first two seasons. Pretty sweet numbers—now comes the hard part. Playoff football, and Peterson’s debut.

Out on the coast, San Diego has been in playoff mode for a month, albeit the longshot, what the heck we’re 4-8 kind of playoff mode. But, what the heck, thanks to Denver’s implosion, the Bolts got a chance at beating the Broncs straight up for the division crown. And sure enough, they got it done at home, 52-21.

It wasn’t all LaDainian Tomlinson, but LT did more than his share. Three TDs worth, from 1, 4, and 14 yards out. The first one pushed LT past Marcus Allen on the all-time rushing touchdown list, and into second place by his lonesome, behind only Emmitt Smith. Tomlinson, in an injury-plagued, oft-frustrating season, still managed 11 touchdowns, and is back in the postseason, despite all signs to the contrary as recently as Thanksgiving. Indy comes to town next Saturday night in the wild card round, and with the Chargers peaking, it could be another classic along the lines of last season’s playoff thriller.

Some other good performances on the final Sunday of the regular season—

Larry Fitzgerald was simply spectacular in the desert, catching 5 balls for 130 yards and two TDs as Arizona thumped Seattle. Joseph Addai took a flat pass and turned it into a 55-yard TD early in Indy’s 23-0 win over Tennessee, then took a seat as subs took over in a meaningless game between two playoff bound squads. Steven Jackson bulled for 161 yards on 30 carries and two TDs as St. Louis pushed Atlanta to the limit before falling 31-27.

And Detroit may have finished off the imperfect season, going 0-16, but it wasn’t Calvin Johnson’s fault. MegaTron had 9 grabs for 103 yards and a pair of scores, including one where he sliced through about two dozen tackles to find the end zone. He helped keep the Silver and Blue in the game until the end, but as happened every single week in ’08, they came up short. Sorry to you Detroiters out there, but the lesson to be taken is to play hard, no matter the circumstances. Calvin Johnson sure did.