Mothman wrote:
I just don't think that's true, although I keep seeing that interpretation. Peterson touched the ball 7 times in that game, once on a pass and rarely on back-to-back plays. How on earth can that be interpreted as a return to a previous iteration of the offense (which, I assume, is meant to mean a predictable, "run first" attack)?
I think Peterson gets made a scapegoat for issues elsewhere on the team.
Did you watch the game, Jim? I mean that literally, not in a snarky way. I did watch it and to my eyes it looked like his presence made Bradford and Shurmur uncertain about what we were trying to do.
Before we got down by 17 points we looked like the offense of old. Once we got in a hole, we had to try to revert back to more of a pass heavy attack, which is why your numbers stand out, but here's our first few drives:
1st and 10 at MIN 25
(9:01 - 1st) A.Peterson up the middle to MIN 27 for 2 yards (A.Morrison).
2nd and 8 at MIN 27
(8:34 - 1st) (Shotgun) S.Bradford pass short right to A.Peterson to MIN 28 for 1 yard (D.Butler).
3rd and 7 at MIN 28
(8:06 - 1st) (Shotgun) S.Bradford pass short left to K.Rudolph to MIN 30 for 2 yards (T.Green).
4th and 5 at MIN 30
(7:34 - 1st) (Punt formation) J.Locke punts 52 yards to IND 18, Center-K.McDermott. C.Rogers to IND 48 for 30 yards (J.Locke).
1st and 10 at MIN 25
(2:22 - 1st) S.Bradford pass short right to C.Johnson to MIN 42 for 17 yards (R.Melvin).
1st and 10 at MIN 42
(1:51 - 1st) A.Peterson up the middle to MIN 43 for 1 yard (A.Morrison).
2nd and 9 at MIN 43
(1:09 - 1st) (Shotgun) J.McKinnon right end pushed ob at MIN 44 for 1 yard (A.Ayers).
3rd and 8 at MIN 44
(0:44 - 1st) (Shotgun) PENALTY on MIN-S.Diggs, False Start, 5 yards, enforced at MIN 44 - No Play.
3rd and 13 at MIN 39
(0:27 - 1st) (Shotgun) S.Bradford pass incomplete deep right to A.Thielen.
4th and 13 at MIN 39
(0:22 - 1st) (Punt formation) J.Locke punts 44 yards to IND 17, Center-K.McDermott, downed by MIN-J.Kearse.
1st and 10 at MIN 38
(14:07 - 2nd) (Shotgun) S.Bradford pass short right to K.Rudolph to MIN 42 for 4 yards (R.Melvin).
2nd and 6 at MIN 42
(13:44 - 2nd) (No Huddle, Shotgun) A.Peterson up the middle to MIN 42 for no gain (T.Green; Z.Kerr).
3rd and 6 at MIN 42
(13:08 - 2nd) (Shotgun) S.Bradford pass incomplete short left to S.Diggs.
4th and 6 at MIN 42
(13:04 - 2nd) (Punt formation) J.Locke punts 50 yards to IND 8, Center-K.McDermott, fair catch by C.Rogers.
On the next series, AD finally runs for more than a few yards, but he fumbles and kills any chance we have of getting back into the game.
All of this doesn't look familiar? If not, we just see things differently, which is fine.