Dec 16th, 2009 | 5:29 pm |
Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson #28 scores a touchdown in the 4th quarter of the Minnesota Vikings 30-10 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals at the Metrodome in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Minnesota Vikings (11-2) at Carolina Panthers (5-8) (Sunday, Al Michaels, Chris Collinsworth
NBC, 8:20 PM ET)
With a win on Sunday night, the Minnesota Vikings can clinch the NFC North and secure back-to-back division titles for the first time since the team won six in a row from 1973-78.
“We’re now an 11-2 football team and our sole focus here is on the Carolina Panthers,” Vikings head coach Brad Childress says. “I have a great deal of respect for (Carolina head coach) John Fox and how he’s grown that program.”
The Panthers enter the week with a 5-8 record but are still alive in the chase for the postseason.
“We just have to go out there and win games,” says Panthers linebacker Jon Beason.
The game will feature two of the NFL’s best running backs in Minnesota’s Adrian Peterson and Carolina’s DeAngelo Williams. Since the start of the 2008 season, Peterson leads the league with 2,960 yards and Williams ranks third with 2,619. Williams’ 25 rushing touchdowns during that span rank third, while Peterson is tied for fourth with 24 rushing TDs.
