Running back Adrian Peterson was a hot topic for Broncos players and coaches tasked with slowing down the running back, and Peyton Manning spoke of his respect for Vikings Head Coach Mike Zimmer's defensive system.
In a video posted on denverbroncos.com, Texas natives Denver Head Coach Gary Kubiak, Defensive Coordinator Wade Phillips and Von Miller, as well as DeMarcus Ware, who played nine seasons in Dallas, weighed in on Peterson.
"It's going to be a team effort to find a way to get him down," Kubiak said. "He's the best in the business and has been for a long time."
Phillips said Peterson is "in that Hall of Fame class," adding, "I've been lucky enough to be around Earl Campbell when he started, and he's the same kind of runner, so powerful and so fast."
Miller said he's known of Peterson since his impressive days of running track at Palestine High School.
"They were like, 'He's real good in football, too,' and that following season he went out and killed it and that following year, he killed it again," Miller said. "He's definitely a legend in Texas."
Ware, who was named AFC Player of the Month for September, said: "We've got to gang tackle. They're going to give him the ball a lot and sometimes when you've got that train coming, you've got to grab on and get a lot of guys that's going to take him down."
'The Zimmer defense'
Manning was asked during his weekly session about going against the Vikings with Zimmer at the helm.
"Coach Zimmer, I've got a lot of respect for him, played against him a lot and had some good dogfights with him at the places he's been," Manning said. "He's been doing it for a long time. He's a tough coach. I've never played for him, but from what I know, I know he's a tough guy and you see his imprint on this team.
"You hear about the different types of offenses out there, the West Coast offense, the Bill Walsh type of offense, I mean Zimmer, in my opinion is the founder of the defense he runs, that Cincinnati runs, Miami runs, different disciples," Manning continued. "There may be somebody above him that was his founder or mentor, but we kind of refer to it as they're running, kind of the Zimmer defense. You've got your own defense, you're doing something good, right? That's big."
