Adrian Peterson Injury: Vikings Won't Win a Game Without All-World Running Back

Adrian Peterson wasn’t the only thing carted off the field this Sunday against the Oakland Raiders.  The Minnesota Vikings' hopes of winning another game were taken away as well.  Without their superstar running back, the Vikings won’t be able to come up with another W.

Luckily for Minnesota, according to NFL.com, Peterson’s X-rays after an ankle injury were negative.  An MRI will further reveal the damage to his ankle and the Vikings record.  Start praying Minnesota fans.

The Vikings run a two-back system.  Percy Harvin steals a few carries from Peterson, but the former Florida Gator also leads the Vikings in receptions.  They won’t start him at running back because he’s too valuable as a vertical threat for Christian Ponder.

Toby Gerhart is the Vikings’ next best running back.  While Gerhart is a solid backup runner, he’ll be unable to carry the workload in Minnesota.  After Peterson left the Raiders’ game, Gerhart carried the ball seven times and gained just 18 yards.

Without a running game, Ponder will struggle.  The rookie quarterback has shown flashes of brilliance this season, but he’ll be held back by a lack of weapons until Peterson returns.  You can’t expect to be able to move the football consistently through the air in what will have to be a pass-first offense that starts Michael Jenkins.

And while Ponder is talented and has a bright future, he’s thrown five touchdowns to six interceptions this season.  The only game the Vikings won with Ponder starting under center happened to be the only game that he didn’t throw an interception.  Of course, Minnesota won that game on the back of Peterson who recorded 159 yards from scrimmage and two touchdowns.

Ponder doesn’t possess the benefit of a strong defense having his back, like Tim Tebow for example.  While the Denver Broncos can pull off wins in which they score under 20 points, the Vikings surrender 27.1 points a game which is 30^th in the NFL.  Plan Suck for…Justin Blackmon is in full effect.

David Daniels is a featured columnist at Bleacher Report and a syndicated writer.  Follow him on Twitter.