Vikings top Jags in first game under new OT rules

CBSSports.com wire reports
Sep. 9, 2012

MINNEAPOLIS -- His left knee fully healed, Adrian Peterson ran hard -- and often.

The Minnesota Vikings finally turned their star running back loose after months of caution, and he rewarded their trust with a typical two-touchdown game. Seemed as if he had never been hurt.

Rookie Blair Walsh kicked four field goals, including a 55-yarder as regulation ended and another in overtime, and Peterson returned a little more than eight months after reconstructive surgery to lift the Vikings to a 26-23 victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday.

"My legs are loose. Seriously, I'm feeling really good. I'm ready to carry the load," Peterson said.

Peterson ran 17 times for 84 yards for the Vikings, who led for most of the second half until Blaine Gabbert's 39-yard touchdown pass and 2-point conversion with 20 seconds left in the fourth quarter gave the Jaguars a 23-20 lead.

"We just wanted to give y'all a show," said Vikings quarterback Christian Ponder, who rebounded from an erratic start. "We could have ended the game a little sooner ... but everyone knew the rule and was well aware of what was going on."

For the first time since the NFL's new overtime scoring rule was installed last season, the first team to score didn't immediately run off the field a winner. The replacement officials were right on top of that and most of the rest of the action, avoiding any game-changing contested calls or blatant mistakes.

After Walsh's 38-yard kick, the Vikings had to play defense again so the Jaguars had their turn to match. But Gabbert was hurried into a fourth-down overthrow, spoiling the debut for new Jaguars coach Mike Mularkey, who played for the Vikings in the 1980s.

"Nobody likes to lose, especially myself," Gabbert said. "Maybe I'm just doing a good job of hiding it. It makes my blood boil when you lose games like that."

For two teams that combined for eight wins last season, this game had everything, including the wild lead change in the waning seconds. After forcing a punt by the Jaguars at the two-minute warning, the Vikings went three-and-out and punted the ball right back clinging to a 20-15 lead.

With no timeouts, 91 seconds left and starting at his 24-yard line, Gabbert put together perhaps the best drive of his brief career. He completed a fourth-down pass to rookie Justin Blackmon and then found Cecil Shorts III open for a 23-20 lead after the 2-point conversion, putting a stunned silence over the stadium.

But the Vikings still had two timeouts, and with two quick passes by Ponder they hustled in position for Walsh to kick the tying field goal with room to spare.

They won the coin toss and, with 27 yards on three carries by Peterson to become the franchise's career leading rusher, set up the sixth-round draft pick from Georgia for his go-ahead kick.

"I've been bragging on this guy," Peterson said.

Ponder finished 20 for 27 for 270 yards, though he lost a fumble in the third quarter that led to one of Josh Scobee's three field goals. Peterson, who tore his anterior cruciate and medial collateral ligaments last Christmas Eve, had 17 of Minnesota's 29 runs.

Gabbert went 23 for 39 for 260 yards and two scores, but he dropped a snap in the third quarter that was recovered at the Jaguars 44 by Kevin Williams to set up Peterson's second touchdown run. His Superman-like leap over the line from 2 yards gave the Vikings a 14-9 lead he celebrated with a somersault up from the turf.

Peterson's first carry was unremarkable in style, a simple 4-yard gain after a stutter step at the line of scrimmage. But the crowd realized the significance and applauded Peterson almost as loudly as they did when he sprinted out of the tunnel during the pregame introduction.

"I got up and knew it was going to be a pretty good day," Peterson said.

At the end of a rough first half, going almost an hour between first downs, the Vikings were suddenly within 9-7 after Peterson's first touchdown.

"I told him afterward: 'I'm not sure you weren't just faking that ACL,'" Vikings coach Leslie Frazier said. "He looked pretty good to me."

Gabbert showed more good than bad. But despite some tough inside running by Maurice Jones-Drew, who skipped training camp in protest over his contract, the Jaguars had too many stalled drives. Vikings rookie Matt Kalil blocked Scobee's extra point in the second quarter, too.

Jones-Drew, who was also supposed to be in a limited role, gained 77 yards on 19 carries for the Jaguars because starter Rashad Jennings hurt his knee.

"I still think he's got some work to do, but I think he's pretty proud of the way he picked up the system," Mularkey said.

Down the hall, the Vikings couldn't have been more proud of the way Peterson readied himself after months of grueling rehabilitation.

"It changes the game," Ponder said. "He ran with a purpose today. He was so dynamic."

Notes

Peterson passed Robert Smith into first place on Minnesota's all-time rushing list, with 6,836 yards in his 74th career game. The Vikings showed a videotaped congratulatory message from Smith, who played eight seasons for the Vikings, on the scoreboard. Jennings had 31 yards on eight carries. Mularkey said his injury wasn't serious. Attendance was announced at 56,607, ending Minnesota's sellout streak that began in 1998. But the Vikings used a new NFL rule this year to lower their sales mark to 90 percent for avoiding a local TV blackout. The Vikings are 4-1 all-time vs. the Jaguars, losing here in 2001. This was their first season opener since 2007 at home, where they went 1-7 last year.

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Jones: Cowboys followed rules before cap reduction, await hearing

GRAPEVINE, Texas -- Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said his team filed "a real good brief" in its challenge of a $10 million salary cap reduction by the NFL, and followed the rules before being penalized.

A hearing is set Thursday before arbitrator Stephen Burbank on appeals by the Cowboys and the Washington Redskins, whose cap was reduced by $36 million. The two NFC East teams were penalized for overloading contracts in the 2010 uncapped season despite league warnings.

"I know we followed the rules, and the league has not said that we did not follow the rules, and those were approved contracts," Jones said Wednesday. "But this is a complicated issue."

The Cowboys and Redskins filed their grievances against the league and players association.

Both teams will be represented by attorneys at Thursday's hearing, which is the first step in the appeals process.

Jones wouldn't elaborate on his team's brief or what specifically he anticipates from the hearing.

"I can't, and won't, address the specifics and certainly wouldn't dare try to predict what the resolution would be," he said. "I'm glad we've got an opportunity to present it under the labor agreement to a mediator, and that's what (Thursday) is all about. ... It won't resolve the issue, but it will help decide whether or not we can go before a mediator."

Jones said there are highly technical issues involved, but again didn't go into details.

Dallas split its $10 million reduction, taking a $5 million cut this year and the rest next season if the penalty isn't overturned.

Even with $5 million less, the Cowboys were able to fill some pressing needs in free agency. They then moved up eight spots while giving up their second-round pick in the draft to select LSU All-America cornerback Morris Claiborne sixth overall.

Dallas got its top offseason target in free agency, signing cornerback Brandon Carr to a $50 million, five-year contract with $26.5 million guaranteed. Offensive linemen Mackenzy Bernadeau and Nate Livings got starter-worthy multiyear contracts, and Dallas also signed backup quarterback Kyle Orton, safety Brodney Pool, linebacker Dan Connor and fullback Lawrence Vickers.

"Certainly we've been able to adjust. It was a big surprise to us to have that downward adjustment in our cap," Jones said. "We usually always are looking for room under the cap, so it was very meaningful for us to have to make that adjustment, but I can tell you as we stand here right now, we didn't not do anything that we wanted to do."

But Jones said the reduction forced the team to "go into the future and get some of those dollars that we wouldn't have had to do had we not had that adjustment. So that will just create a challenge for us in the future."

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Want to clean up during free agency? Just follow some simple rules

A player like Red Bryant doesn't get fans excited, but can make teams even better. (Getty Images)

The NFL kicks off free agency Tuesday, which will officially open the mad season, as if Peyton Manning hasn't already kicked that off.

To help prepare for the endless stream of moves, signings, releases, restructuring, agents leaking info, agent propaganda about players and everything else that goes on for the next month or so, I offer Dos and Don'ts for all NFL teams.

These would all apply if I were an NFL general manager, which I often play out here on the pages of CBSSports.com -- much to my e-mailers' chagrin.

Do: Pay big for elite pass-rushers in their prime.

Why: They are few and far between, and rarely do they hit the market. Yet here's Mario Williams, one of the better pass rushers in the league on the market at the age of 27. How can a team pass on that?

Don't: Sign any player over the age of 30 for a big-money deal -- unless it's a quarterback.

Why: Most of the time -- no, nearly all the time -- that player's best football is behind him. So you are essentially paying for past production, rather than future potential. The price is often higher than it should be based on resume rather than the future. That's where teams get in trouble. Often it's the fans who want the name players, refusing to see that those players have played their best football already. Teams have to avoid hearing the clamor and reacting.

Do: Look for guys who are 27 or so and have at least 20 starts in the past two years after having 10 or fewer in their first two years.

Why: It means growth. It means improvement. It means the timing is right. Seattle's Red Bryant: One start first two seasons. Had 23 the last two. That's the type of player teams need to sign.

Don't: Pay fullbacks.

Why: This is a passing league now. They were big in your daddy's NFL. Not the way the game is played today. It's an air league. Not a smash-mouth league anymore. Fullbacks aren't that important. Draft a big slug in the seventh round and make him your fullback.

Do: Grab a pass rusher when you can.

Why: See the New York Giants. You can never have enough of those guys. It might not mean signing Williams to a long-term deal that will be as big as any defensive player in the NFL, but it might mean getting a situational guy who can play in the rotation. Pass rushers are gold in the current NFL.

Don't: Sign anybody's restricted free agent to an offer sheet and give up a first-round pick.

Why: That means you’re taking Steelers wideout Mike Wallace. It's just not worth it for a variety of reasons. One, you have to pay a huge dollar deal with a lot of guaranteed money to even have a chance to get the player. If you do sign him to a sheet, the team can always match it, which means you essentially wasted time doing their negotiating. And, finally, that draft pick would be cheap labor and younger. Isn't that an advantage teams want?

Do: Try and keep your own

Why: You know them. They know you. It's easy to know them as people and as workers in the locker room.

Don't: Get sentimental.

Why: It might be nice to keep your own, but within reason. Don't pay an older, aging player just because he's done some good things for you. Sentiment is for losers. The Steelers have always done a great job letting veteran players walk and replacing them with younger, faster, better talent. That's the way it should be.

Do: Find a bigger corner you can move to safety.

Why: Look at the Houston secondary. They start four players who have started at corner in their careers. That's the prototype secondary -- provided they improve at one corner spot -- for the modern NFL game. Jacksonville hit on Dwight Lowery, a former corner, who started at safety last year. PS: Lowery is an unrestricted free agent.

Don't: Pay big money and project quarterbacks with limited starts as future franchise passers.

Why: They haven't started for a reason. Sometimes, it works out. Mark Brunell did a nice job in Jacksonville. Matt Schaub has done the same in Houston. But there are too many flops. Guys like Rob Johnson, Scott Mitchell and some might even throw in Kevin Kolb and Matt Cassel -- two average players who start. There is a reason Matt Flynn went in the seventh round. He can be solid, but he will never be a star. Be careful how you pay him.

Do: Try to find a third-down back -- for the right price.

Why: I hate the idea of paying feature backs, but I love the idea of giving a third-down backs the right contract. Getting backs involved in the passing game, even on early downs, is about to become an even bigger part of offensive football. The Saints did it with Darren Sproles last year and I think Atlanta will do it more with Jacquizz Rodgers this year. The pass-catching backs, the kind who can turn a screen pass into a 60-yard scoring play, are valuable commodities.

Don't: Sign corners who can't run.

Why: Larry Brown. Remember him? He had two picks in a Super Bowl for the Cowboys and the Raiders signed him to a big deal the next spring. He wasn't fast enough to be a top corner and was considered an Oakland flop. You have to run to play that position, with rare exceptions.

Do: Try to find a second or third receiver for the right price.

Why: With so many spread formations, you need that guy. This comes with a caveat: Do not try and make that second guy a No. 1 receiver. That doesn't work. You are what you are. A Mario Manningham is never going to be a No. 1 receiver. So be rational.

Don't: Sign two-down, run-stuffing linebackers.

Why: This is a passing league. The nickel corner is now more valuable. The run-stuffing linebacker comes off on passing downs, and we know there are a lot more of those these days.

Do: Sign hard-working, good locker-room guys.

Why: Transition can be tough. You want the right people inside the building. Not Saints, mind you, but hard workers.

Don't: Pay Randy Moss.

Why: See above. He has loafed. He isn't a great teammate. And, oh yeah, he's old.

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