Chat OT: Adrian Peterson doing so much damage with so little help

If you missed my live Vikings chat on Tuesday afternoon, you can check in here and read the back and forth in full. In addition, each week I go overtime, bringing good questions I didn't get around to answering on the chat here to the Access Vikings blog for discussion.

Here we go …

Question 1: Adrian Peterson sure seems like he's the undisputed best running back in the NFL again. And he'd probably be an MVP candidate if the Vikings made the playoffs. But in all honesty, in this era of pass-happy football, what does having the best running back in the league really get you? Also, has there ever been a back to lead the NFL in rushing while getting so little help from his quarterback?

Good question. And we took the liberty to find out, looking back at the past 10 rushing champions, seeing how their teams fared and assessing what their quarterbacks did. (We also projected Peterson's final stats for this season based on his current pace.) Have at it …

YR RB TM CAR. YDS YPC REC YDS TOTAL TDs W-L QB TM PASS YDS/GM '12 Adrian Peterson MIN 312 1,928 6.2 48 260 11 8-8 Christian Ponder 180.6 '11 Maurice Jones-Drew JAX 343 1,606 4.6 43 374 11 5-11 Blaine Gabbert 156.9 '10 Arian Foster HOU 327 1,616 4.9 66 604 18 6-10 Matt Schaub 273.1 '09 Chris Johnson TEN 358 2,006 5.6 50 503 16 8-8 Vince Young 194.0 '08 Adrian Peterson MIN 363 1,760 4.8 21 125 10 10-6 Gus Frerotte 201.1 '07 LaDainian Tomlinson SD 315 1,474 4.7 60 475 18 11-5 Philip Rivers 198.4 '06 LaDainian Tomlinson SD 348 1,815 5.2 56 508 31 14-2 Philip Rivers 213.3 '05 Shaun Alexander SEA 370 1,880 5.1 15 78 28 13-3 Matt Hasselbeck 227.0 '04 Curtis Martin NYJ 371 1,697 4.6 41 245 14 10-6 Chad Pennington 201.9 '03 Jamal Lewis BAL 387 2,066 5.3 26 205 14 10-6 Kyle Boller 157.3 '02 Ricky Williams MIA 383 1,853 4.8 47 363 17 9-7 Jay Fiedler 191.8 AVG 356 1,777 5.0 43 348 18 10-6 201.5 [ NOTE: The final row lists the averages of the past 10 rush champions coming into this season. Also worth noting, the rushing champions to make the postseason were Lewis, Martin, Alexander, Tomlinson (both seasons) and Peterson.] In summary, it appears that only Jamal Lewis in 2003 and Maurice Jones-Drew last season were getting less complementary help from their passing attacks while still having monster seasons on the ground. It's also interesting to note that six of the past 10 rushing champions have played in the postseason, including Peterson in 2008.

We'll let you draw your own conclusions from all the other statistics above. Have fun.

Question 2: The consternation from fans and talking heads regarding Ponder is fairly entertaining. Most people didn't pick this team to win the six games it has already won. We've got no decent healthy receivers. And Ponder has now basically played one full season. How can this team possibly complete an evaluation of this QB without playing him these last 4 games?

Again, though, this isn't just about a win-loss total. It's about trusting what you see. And for those who are increasingly agitated by Ponder, what they're seeing is a quarterback who continues to throw costly interceptions while not making many big plays whatsoever in the passing game.

Ponder is also not using his mobility and athleticism to create a whole lot extra. This is worrisome. There's no way around it. You look at the things Rodgers can do with his feet, the things Cutler does with his feet, heck, the things Russell Wilson is doing and there's just a general ease about them. They're making plays without seeming hurried or out of sorts. Ponder is not.

For Ponder, his most important priority in 2012 was to avoid negative plays – i.e. drive-killing sacks and costly turnovers. And the two picks in Green Bay were justifiable reasons for the fan base to panic a bit. Those were game-changing.

Yes, the point about having mediocre receivers is valid. But it's not the biggest reason for Ponder's recent slump. Plus, his inability to produce victories after the Vikings fall behind is notable. That's part of that "it" factor. And the idea that the passing attack is struggling so badly despite seeing pretty simple coverages with minimal safety support is alarming.

Question 3: How do we light a fire under Coach Frazier? We need some emotions on the field. Sometimes it looks like he is just too cool to get excited. This is an emotional game and it needs to be reflected by the head coach!

How much emotion does Bill Belichick show during games? How fiery do Mike McCarthy and Lovie Smith seem to you?

How about Mike Smith and Gary Kubiak, who just might be playing each other for the Lombardi Trophy two months from now.

Having a fiery head coach is not a prerequisite for having big-time success. Having a coach who can connect with players? Having a coach who can devise sharp game plans to put his team in position to succeed? Having a coach who can make good in-game decisions and adjustments? That's much more valuable than a guy who will punt his clipboard and scream and yell and act like a lunatic.

But, hey, you could always have Rex Ryan, right?

Frazier has his own leadership style. And while it remains to be seen whether he can get the Vikings over the hump, his success or failure won't be a result of his sideline demeanor.

You find me a running back in the NFL who doesn't get a series off now and again. No different with Adrian.

As for third downs, Toby Gerhart is a more reliable pass blocker and has proven more capable of providing that extra little protection. That's it in a nutshell.

Question 5: Why do you keep saying the playoffs are out of the picture? You might have opinions on how the rest of the season will play out, but as of this very moment, they are still in the hunt.

I'm OK with the Vikings coaches and players believing the playoffs are still a possibility. They have to think that way. I'm OK with the fans holding out some hope for that, too.

Me? As an objective observer with nothing invested though, I'm making an educated guess that a team that has lost five of its last seven is not going to win the final four against strong competition.

They haven't won four games in a row since Favre was having his glory days here. And if you don't think they're going to lose another game this year, you're nuts.

Lastly, given the NFC playoff picture, the odds are heavily stacked against them. The current divisions leaders are Atlanta, New York, Green Bay and San Francisco. That leaves a wild card hunt for two spots that includes five other teams with a record equal to or better than the Vikings'. Of those five teams, the Vikings have lost to four of them (Chicago, Seattle, Tampa Bay and Washington) which means that the head-to-head part of the tiebreaker equation will be a major obstacle.

There's also the matter of conference record. The Vikings are 4-5 against the NFC. At present, among those other five wildcard contenders only Tampa Bay (3-5) has a worse NFC record.

Translation: No, the Vikings have not been mathematically eliminated from playoff contention. But they'd need just about everything to break exactly right to get in.