Video (01:25) : The Vikings emerged victorious over the Rams but not unscathed.
The next Adrian Peterson looks pretty good, but the current one looked even better Sunday.
Rams rookie Todd Gurley definitely showed glimpses of power and speed in a similarly sized body. His 1-yard touchdown came when he slammed into the line of scrimmage, bounced off linebackers Anthony Barr and Audie Cole, broke through the grasp of 335-pound nose tackle Kenrick Ellis and fell forward into the end zone.
But it was the 30-year-old Peterson, not the 21-year-old Gurley, who ran for more yards and a better average while winning the game 21-18 in overtime at TCF Bank Stadium.
"I don't plan on passing the torch any time soon," Peterson said with a smile after the game. "He came out and had a good game."
Peterson ran for 125 yards and a touchdown on 29 carries (4.3 yards per carry). Gurley was held to 89 yards and the one touchdown on 24 carries (3.7). He came into the game averaging 6.1 yards per carry and had rushed for 128 yards or more in each of his first four NFL starts.
In what was billed as a grind-it-out game between two star running backs, it was Peterson who won that battle in overtime.
The Vikings won the coin toss, but took the favorable wind condition instead of the ball. Gurley lost 6 yards on his only carry of overtime as the Rams went three-and-out.
With the ball at their 49-yard line and backup quarterback Shaun Hill struggling in place of the injured Teddy Bridgewater, the Vikings rode Peterson to victory. He carried four times for 21 of the 29 yards that set up Blair Walsh's winning field goal.
Gurley could only watch as the original Peterson led his team in rushing for the 100th time.
"The Vikings have an extremely hard defense," Gurley said. "There are a lot of great players over there."
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