News: SAEN: Why didn’t Minnesota turn to Peterson after Romo turnover?

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ARLINGTON – Kudos to Tony Romo and the Cowboys pulling out a must-win Sunday against the lowly Vikings.

But I can’t help but think there was a lot of luck involved with Minnesota’s coaching staff blowing so many decisions, including the failure to take advantage of a revved-up Adrian Peterson after cornerback A.J. Jefferson intercepted a Tony Romo pass at the Dallas 41-yard line with 4:29 left.

On their previous possession, Peterson broke out with a 52-yard run to the Dallas 20. Four plays later on fourth-and-1 at the 11, Peterson burst up the middle, carrying three defenders into the end zone.

But instead of going back to Peterson after Romo’s pick, the Vikings curiously chose to start things off with Christian Ponder throwing deep to Greg Jennings. Three plays later after that misfire, Minnesota punted, setting the stage for Romo to direct a nine-play, 90-yard season-saving drive that ended with him throwing a 7-yard touchdown pass to Dwayne Harris.

Peterson finished with 140 yards on 25 carries with one TD, but he should have received even more work after Romo’s interception. At that point, the former Oklahoma star seemed ready to deliver a knockout blow. But instead of feeding the ball to the NFL’s best back, Minnesota gave him the ball only once in going three-and-out and taking just 1:45 off the clock.

“He is a fantastic player and that’s not a big news bulletin,” Cowboys coach Jason Garrett said of Peterson. “We had a chance to coach him in the Pro Bowl, I think, after the 2009 season, spent a week with him and he is just something else. He’s exactly what you want an NFL player to be…He’s big, strong, fast, explosive, he breaks tackles, he’s relentless. He’s had a bull’s eye on his back (since he was a youngster) and he continues to be productive. It’s a heck of a challenge every time you break the huddle trying to slow that guy down.”

Unfortunately for the Vikings, they forgot all that on first down after the Romo turnover.

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