In a Season Dominated by QB Play, Adrian Peterson Making Case for 2nd MVP Award

The Minnesota Vikings' Adrian Peterson scoffs at the notion the NFL is solely a quarterback-driven league and running backs are devalued in today's game. Peterson continues to prove the opposite as a legitimate MVP candidate. 

Give him the ball as many times as possible and let him run. 

"That's something I take personal," Peterson said, per ESPN.com's Ben Goessling. "I guess there's something they see in the way I approach the game, things I have to say when I come off the field. It feels good. I have a job to do. When my number's called, I've been able to take advantage."

The Vikings coaching staff happily obliged by giving the former seventh overall pick 20 or more carries in four of the team's last five games. Peterson carried the ball 19 times in the one game where he felt short of the mark.

In that time, Minnesota won five straight contests, and Peterson ran for 589 yards. The scary part is that he's only getting stronger with each passing week. 

Even in a pass-happy era with inconsistent play from the rest of the Vikings' skill positions and a porous offensive line, Peterson keeps running all day long.

Special talents always rise to the occasion, and Peterson may be the best running back professional football has experienced since the great Jim Brown dominated the gridiron more than 50 years ago. 

The Vikings' franchise player is truly a rare talent. 

This has never been more evident than this season, at an age when most running backs enter the twilight of their careers. Instead, the 30-year-old Oklahoma product is as dangerous and productive as ever. 

"I don’t plan on passing the torch anytime soon," Peterson said last week after the Vikings faced the St. Louis Rams and rookie sensation Todd Gurley, per Vikings.com's Craig Peters.

Due to his ability to take over games and lead the Vikings to the top of the NFC North, the running back is making a mark on the league this season after missing all but one game last year. 

One cannot discuss where Peterson is today without acknowledging what has happened within the past year.

Last September, he was indicted on child-abuse charges. The Vikings deactivated him for a Week 2 contest against the New England Patriots. The NFL eventually placed the running back on the NFL’s Exempt/Commissioner’s Permission list, which excluded him from all team activities. 

In November, Peterson accepted a plea deal, but the NFL suspended him for the rest of the season. 

The running back wasn't reinstated until February, when U.S. District Court Judge David Doty ruled in his favor during an arbitration hearing. 

During this period, the relationship between Peterson and the Vikings soured. It wasn't until the two sides agreed to a restructured deal in July that the running back could move on and once again be the player many loved to watch before his indictment. 

Upon his return, Peterson appeared to be a new man with a new perspective on life. In many ways, though, he appeared to be the same dominant running back he always was, and it's carried into this season. 

Rank	Player	Team	Carries	Rushing Yards	Touchdowns
1.	Adrian Peterson	Vikings	195	961	5
2.	Chris Johnson	Cardinals	166	734	3
3.	Devonta Freeman	Falcons	165	721	9
4.	Todd Gurley	Rams	130	709	5
5.	Doug Martin	Bucs	161	706	3

By Week 2, the Vikings' lead back once again wowed with 134 yards on 29 carries. He's broken the 100-yard barrier in five of his team's nine games. 

But Sunday's performance against the Oakland Raiders proved to be special. His 203-yard effort aligned him with yet another all-time great running back, O.J. Simpson. The 200-yard game was Peterson's sixth of his career, which tied Simpson for the most in NFL history. 

The NFL's Twitter feed provided video of his best runs during this weekend's play, and it's not hard to see how special Peterson still is as the game's most natural runner: 

In the above highlight reel, Peterson's power, patience, decisiveness, short-area quickness, balance, elusiveness and breakaway speed were all on display. 

His performance allowed the nine-year veteran to pull away from his contemporaries this season. Peterson is a top-eight performer in every major statistical category for a running back, as DraftKings.com's Adam Levitan noted: 

The one stat not included was yards per game. Peterson also leads the league with an average of 106.8 yards per game. 

His natural skills are rare, and they're helping to carry a Vikings squad without a strong supporting cast. 

Tom Brady, Cam Newton and Andy Dalton are the leading candidates for MVP at this point in the discussion because their teams' success this season. The Vikings are 7-2 overall and sitting atop the NFC North. Plus, the running back may be doing more with less than any of the aforementioned quarterbacks. 

In New England, Brady can always rely on tight end Rob Gronkowski if things get tough. The same can be said about Newton and his favorite target, Greg Olsen. 

Mike Wallace was once a Pro Bowl wide receiver over four years ago with the Pittsburgh Steelers, but he's been targeted a total of eight times in the month of November. In fact, the speedster has been overtaken in recent weeks by rookie fifth-round pick Stefon Diggs as the team's No. 1 receiving threat. 

Wallace isn't the only disappointment in the receiving corps.

Former first-round pick Cordarrelle Patterson has yet to live up to expectations. The Tennessee product has as many rushing attempts (two) as receptions this season. 

Even sure-handed tight end Kyle Rudolph dropped an easy touchdown Sunday against the Raiders when he was left wide open in the end zone. 

The Vikings currently rank 31st overall in passing offense. 

Part of the problem falls on the shoulders of second-year quarterback Teddy Bridgewater. After a stellar finish to his rookie campaign, expectations were sky-high for the Louisville Cardinals product. With Peterson now by his side, Bridgewater was supposed to take the next step into franchise quarterback territory. It hasn't happened.

Jeff Haynes/Associated Press

Instead, the gloved one owns a seven-to-six touchdown-to-interception ratio. He averages only 181 passing yards per game. He's 25th in the league with 254 pass attempts. His average of 7.13 yards per attempt ranks 20th overall. And he's been sacked 24 times, which is sixth-worst in the league. 

Clearly, Bridgewater shows signs of being a special young quarterback, but he hasn't consistently played to his talent level this season. 

While the skill positions continue to underwhelm, the Vikings offensive line struggled throughout the year. 

A season-ending injury to incumbent right tackle Phil Loadholt prematurely forced rookie fourth-round pick T.J. Clemmings into the starting lineup this season. 

Brandon Fusco made the transition from right to left guard, and it hasn't gone particularly well. He's currently the team's second-lowest-graded player on offense behind Clemmings, according to Pro Football Focus. 

Left tackle Matt Kalil improved this season compared to last year, but he still surrendered numerous quarterback hits and hurries. 

Right guard Michael Harris is a full-time starter for the first time, and his performance can be described as inconsistent. 

Center Joe Berger, however, became a pleasant surprise filling in for injured veteran John Sullivan. 

The big boys up front have played well in spurts, but this is certainly a case where a dominant talent behind the unit make it look better than it really is. 

Everything falls on Peterson to be the focal point of the Vikings offense and still produce at a high level for the NFC North's best team. 

Brady is clearly the game's best quarterback at the moment, but the Patriots didn't appear invincible Sunday against the New York Giants. Newton is football's most dynamic dual threat, but his passing statistics aren't overly impressive. And everyone is waiting to see if Dalton eventually implodes at some point this season. 

If any of those candidates take a step back in the coming weeks, it will create a crease for Peterson to exploit in the MVP race like he often does on Sundays. 

A designed plan built around a dominant running game accompanied by a strong defense generally goes against the grain of current NFL trends, but the Vikings are effectively employing the philosophy primarily due to their lead back.

In the 58-year history of the NFL's MVP award, 16 running backs have won the award. Peterson was the last to do so. He might be the next as well. 

Just hand him the ball and let him work. 

Brent Sobleski covers the NFL and NFL draft for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter @brentsobleski.