NFL Picks Week 1: Adrian Peterson Will Guide Vikings to Win vs. Chargers

The Minnesota Vikings know how important running back Adrian Peterson is to their future and the team rewarded him with a brand new $100 million contract on Saturday. Now, he needs to go out on Sunday and reward them with a huge game against the San Diego Chargers.

The odds of Peterson ever going anywhere after his contract expired were slim to none, and, as Kevin Seifert of ESPN.com wrote, the Vikings should have no trepidation whatsoever about handing out this kind of money to a running back like Peterson.

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The Vikings clearly were unconcerned about the risks of a huge second contract for a superstar running back... Peterson has tallied 1,334 touches in his career, including kickoff returns, but has missed only three of a possible 64 games and has had no off-field issues that would compromise his eligibility to play with the league.

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The Vikings will have their hands full against a Chargers team that is loaded with talent on both sides of the ball, but the beginning of the season is when strange things tend to happen.

Peterson, and new quarterback Donovan McNabb, know that they need to strike while the proverbial iron is hot. No one is expecting them to do well in this game because they lost their best receiver and downgraded the quarterback position.

But Peterson is so good and so dangerous that he will keep the Vikings in this game until the very end. McNabb will have to be the one to lead a game-winning drive in the fourth quarter, but up until then this game will belong to the franchise running back.

The Vikings are the underdogs in this game, and the Chargers are clearly the more talented team on paper, but Peterson is going to leave his mark on this game with at least 200 rushing yards and two touchdowns, and the Vikings will shock the world in Week 1 and defeat the Chargers in San Diego, 27-24.

And all the hoopla surrounding Peterson’s new contract will be justified, if only for one game.