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Vikings don't forget to feed Adrian Peterson, and — stunner — he dominates

eric edholm

Credit the Minnesota Vikings for having a clear offensive identity nearly all season. Feel free to knock them for getting away from it last week.

A week after Adrian Peterson carried the ball only seven times after the first series of the game, a 30-13 loss to the Green Bay Packers, the Vikings didn't forget their workhorse again. In Sunday's 20-10 road win over the Atlanta Falcons, Peterson carried the ball 29 times (matching his season high) and amassed 158 yards, rushing for both of the Vikings' touchdowns.

It had been rumored that Peterson actually met with Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer this week to express his displeasure with the limited workload against the Packers, especially in a game that was close until the latter stages.

But whatever they talked about was hashed out quickly, apparently: Zimmer called for eight Peterson runs in the first quarter alone, and he also had a pass thrown his way — a drop on which Peterson could have walked into the end zone. In the second half, Peterson totaled 17 carries and 110 yards, with his 35-yard fourth-quarter touchdown putting the game out of reach.

It was his seventh career game with at least 150 rushing yards and two scores, and he now sits in 18th place all time in rushing yards — passing O.J. Simpson, Corey Dillon and John Riggins on the way — with 11,354. Peterson, leading the NFL in rushing and averaging 105.8 rushing yards per game, could end this season ranked in the top 15.

It's simple, really. When the Vikings give him the ball, they tend to win. They are 8-0 when he gets 20 or more carries, 0-3 when he doesn't. He chewed up equal parts game clock and Falcons defenders on Sunday. You can see why Peterson would want the ball more and would tell Zimmer as much.

Peterson is working against time. He's 30, having lost most of last season to suspension amid his domestic violence trouble, in a league where backs routinely hit the wall before they hit that age. Of the top 40 individual rushing seasons in league history, only three were turned in by players 30 or older. But if Peterson keeps this up, he'll be the fourth — on pace for nearly 1,700 rush yards.

The Vikings are back in first place with the Packers losing on Thanksgiving, and it almost seems certain for the division to come down to the two teams' Week 17 battle. Will Peterson still be running strong then? He's on pace for 345 carries, which would be the third-most in his career and the most since his 2,097-yard season of 2012.

Peterson knows he won't dominate forever, and the Vikings know what happens when they don't give him the chance to dominate. Expect Zimmer and Co. to keep doing what works: hand Peterson the ball and let him do the rest. It doesn't have to be difficult or fancy to be successful.

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Eric Edholm is a writer for Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at edholm@yahoo-inc.com or follow him on Twitter!