Peterson short of record, but Vikings win

MINNEAPOLIS - Adrian Peterson came up 9 yards shy of breaking Eric Dickerson's single-season rushing record, but he still powered the Minnesota Vikings to a 37-34 win over the Green Bay Packers Sunday.

Peterson had 199 yards to pick up the Vikings and take them to the playoffs, where the first stop will be . . . Green Bay, in a rematch next weekend in a first-round playoff game.

Peterson finished with 2,097 yards, becoming the seventh player in NFL history to reach the 2,000-yard mark. He had to work for it - his longest run was only 28 yards against a defense geared to slow him down.

But Peterson did manage to slice through the line for a 27-yard gain in the closing seconds, his career-high 34th carry. That set up Blair Walsh's 29-yard field goal as time expired and put the Vikings (10-6) in the postseason after consecutive last-place finishes.

The division champion Packers (11-5) dropped to the NFC's No. 3 seed.

Aaron Rodgers completed 28 of 40 passes for 365 yards and four TDs, connecting with Jordy Nelson from 2 yards to tie the game with 2 minutes, 54 seconds remaining. But Christian Ponder threw for three scores, including one to Peterson, providing the necessary balance.

Vikings 37, Packers 34

Green Bay 0 10 14 10 - 34

Minnesota 10 10 7 10 - 37

First quarter

Min-FG Walsh 54, 10:47.

Min-Peterson 7 run (Walsh kick), 5:44.

Second quarter

Min-FG Walsh 37, 14:51.

GB-G.Jennings 3 pass from Rodgers (Crosby kick), 4:01.

Min-Wright 8 pass from Ponder (Walsh kick), 1:07.

GB-FG Crosby 51, :00.

Third quarter

GB-G.Jennings 5 pass from Rodgers (Crosby kick), 11:56.

Min-Peterson 2 pass from Ponder (Walsh kick), 4:00.

GB-J.Jones 8 pass from Rodgers (Crosby kick), 2:04.

Fourth quarter

GB-FG Crosby 40, 12:21.

Min-Jenkins 3 pass from Ponder (Walsh kick), 7:54.

GB-Nelson 2 pass from Rodgers (Crosby kick), 2:54.

Min-FG Walsh 29, :00.

A: 64,134.

GB   Min

First downs 24   25

Total Net Yards 405   444

Rushes-yards 16-72   37-217

Passing 333   227

Punt Returns 2-41   2-36

Kickoff Returns 3-86   6-171

Interceptions Ret. 0-0   0-0

Comp-Att-Int 28-40-0   16-28-0

Sacked-Yards Lost 5-32   1-7

Punts 3-42.7   3-49.3

Fumbles-Lost 1-1   0-0

Penalties-Yards 7-43   10-98

Time of Possession 28:05   31:55

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing: GB, Harris 14-70, Grant 2-2. Min, Peterson 34-199, Ponder 2-16, Gerhart 1-2.

Passing: GB, Rodgers 28-40-0-365. Min, Ponder 16-28-0-234.

Receiving: GB, G.Jennings 8-120, Finley 8-72, J.Jones 6-62, Nelson 3-87, Harris 2-17, Boykin 1-7. Min, Wright 3-90, Simpson 3-39, Jenkins 3-37, Gerhart 2-22, Rudolph 2-20, Felton 1-17, Ellison 1-7, Peterson 1-2.

Missed Field Goals: None.