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News | Minnesota Vikings – vikings.com

Adrian Peterson Secures 3rd Rushing Title in Vikings Victory

Adrian Peterson's main objective was to help the Vikings win the NFC North championship on Sunday night.

While the Minnesota running back accomplished that goal with a 20-13 victory, he also notched a personal milestone as well.

Peterson finished the regular season with 1,485 rushing yards, the most in the league. Although he had his third rushing title locked by up kickoff, he added to his total with 67 yards against the Packers. 

"I told myself that my main focus was to just do whatever I could to help my team win," Peterson said. "I was surprised to hear that I already had it before the game started. It's a great feeling."

Peterson, who rushed 19 times and had a touchdown, helped the Vikings claim their first NFC North title since 2009.

Claiming the division crown at Lambeau Field was extra sweet for the ninth-year veteran.

"Coming down here is never easy," Peterson said. "But we all talked about having each other's backs and playing more physical than we did the first game.

"Just going out and laying it all on the line."

Peterson finished with 83 more yards than Tampa Bay's Doug Martin, who ran for 1,402 yards this season.

Martin trailed Peterson by 64 yards entering Sunday but only ran for 48 yards against Carolina.

After missing 15 games in 2014, the 30-year-old Peterson became the second-oldest player to win a rushing title.

"This is definitely what I envisioned coming into the season," Peterson said. "I envisioned 2,100 (yards) plus, but I'll take this plus the (division) title."

Peterson's other two rushing titles came in 2008 (1,760 yards) and 2012 (2,097 yards). The Vikings also won the NFC North championship in 2008.

Peterson churned out plenty of tough yards against Green Bay, including a 3-yard touchdown run with 10:32 left in the third quarter.

Peterson powered through a handful of Green Bay defenders to help give the Vikings a double-digit lead.

The touchdown run tied Peterson for the league lead with 11 and was the 102nd rushing score of his career.

Peterson left the game with a low back injury late in the third quarter but returned in the fourth quarter.

He said he'll be ready for Sunday's Wild Card game at TCF Bank Stadium against Seattle, who beat the Vikings at home earlier this season.

"It's a new day," Peterson said. "Those guys did a lot of things well and we didn't do a lot of things well in that game.

"We're going to have to come and put our best foot forward … but I can tell you that we will be ready."

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