Sid Hartman: It goes without saying, this kid is special

George Stewart, the Vikings receivers coach in his 20th season as an NFL coach, ran out of adjectives when talking about running back Adrian Peterson, who rushed for an NFL-record 296 yards along with three touchdowns in Sunday's 35-17 victory over the San Diego Chargers at the Metrodome.

Stewart has coached for Pittsburgh, Tampa Bay, San Francisco, Atlanta and now the Vikings.

"I've never seen a player like that," Stewart said. "And I don't mean to try to put him in the Hall of Fame right now, but I've been around a lot of great players: Jerry Rice, T.O. [Terrell Owens], Steve Young, Rod Woodson, Michael Vick. I mean, great players.

"I've never seen a player like this. I mean, this sucker is special, and to have a big game like he had today, helped us win a football game. But the thing about him, he's humble, he's done it at every level, high school, college, professional. He is a great football player, and we're very fortunate to have him."

Asked if anyone now in the NFL compares with Peterson, Stewart responded: "No one. No one. He has size, speed, quickness, vision. No one compares to him. He is a great football player."

Obviously, the Vikings also clearly needed the victory. Stewart said: "You've got a player like Adrian Peterson, you have one like Chester Taylor, the way the receivers blocked, the way the offensive line handled their business up front, our defense gave us the ball in great field position. It was a team win today."

Can't remember

Quarterback Tarvaris Jackson, who left the game in the second quarter because of a concussion, said: "I just remember running the football, I remember waking up, that's pretty much it.

"I was out cold, so I guess that's a concussion. I have to watch the film to see what happened."

Naturally he was disappointed that he was knocked out of the game. He completed six of 12 passes for 63 yards, and he felt things were going well up to that point.

"That's the disappointing part," Jackson said. "We got the win, but at the same time. ... We were moving the football and stuff like that, but you know, we got the win. That's all that matters."

Jackson sat out last week because of a broken index finger, the third game he has missed this season because of injury, but he said he felt confident out there, adding: "I pretty much always feel comfortable. Sometimes I might just not make the right throw or the right read."

Wilf happy

Team owner Zygi Wilf said that Peterson's record-setting day might be the turning point for a tough season.

"It was great to be here and see this special person do what he did today." Wilf said.

Cottrell impressed

Ted Cottrell, the former Vikings defensive coordinator who now holds that role for the Chargers, had a chance to meet with and hug many of his former players after Sunday's game. The conversation turned to Peterson, who obviously made his current defense look bad.

"He's a great back," Cottrell said. "It's his cutting, ability, speed. He's a tough size."

Cottrell added that he wasn't surprised Peterson could have such a big day, after studying game film of the rookie.

He also had good words for the Vikings defense. Five of Sunday's defensive starters -- linemen Kenechi Udeze, Pat Williams and Kevin Williams, linebacker E.J. Henderson and safety Darren Sharper -- played under Cottrell when he was here in 2004 and '05. Cornerback Antoine Winfield, who sat out Sunday because of an injury, played under Cottrell both here and with Buffalo.

In San Diego's previous three games, the Chargers scored 41 points at Denver, 28 against Oakland and 35 against Houston, and they won those games by an average of 25.7 points. The Vikings held the Chargers to 17 points, and seven came off the 109-yard field goal return by Antonio Cromartie at the end of the first half.

The Vikings defense held LaDainian Tomlinson, ranked by many NFL observers as the best running back in the game right now, to his lowest total of the year, 16 carries for 40 yards, a 2.5 average, along with six receptions for 37 yards. Tomlinson, last year's NFL MVP, came into Sunday with 139 carries for 617 yards, along with 26 receptions for 211 yards, and a total of seven touchdowns.

"They played well today, no question about it," Cottrell said.

Defense sharp

Linebacker Ben Leber, who played four seasons with the Chargers before signing here last year, said he couldn't recall a defense shutting down Tomlinson the way the Vikings did Sunday.

"Premier back coming in here, the best in the league, and shutting him down was a great feeling. So, just great football today," Leber said.

On the defensive game plan, Leber said: "I think we just came in with a concerted effort that we were going to shut [Tomlinson] down. We had some tendency keys on what their offense liked to do, and it stayed true during the game and guys just got after it."

The Chargers rushed for 42 yards, the lowest total against the formidable Vikings run defense this year. It was the fourth time this season the Vikings have held an opponent to fewer than 60 yards rushing.

Perhaps more impressive was that the Vikings, who entered Sunday with the NFL's worst pass defense, held the Chargers to only 187 passing yards, as San Diego quarterback Philip Rivers struggled to a 19-for-42 performance. All-Pro tight end Antonio Gates was held to one reception for 10 yards. Leber credited the pass rush for pressuring Rivers into throwing before he could find open receivers.

"Our rush was there today, Philip was having to move his feet and think quickly. ... So, great job with the front four, and great job with the corners and safeties covering the guys."

The Chargers certainly have a high-powered offense, and Leber is well familiar with it. "They are going to move the ball a little bit," Leber said. "The great thing about it is we persevered, we stuck with each other, and the offense did a great job today of running the clock down and time management."

Will this victory bring on more victories?

"It's too early to tell but it's a great feeling," Leber said. "This is where we wanted to be. We'll get one win this week and wipe the slate clean and keep this feeling into next week and hopefully get another one."

As for the Vikings defense's impressions of Peterson, Leber said, "We're just like everybody else: We kind of turn into fans when you see something like that."

Sid Hartman can be heard weekdays on WCCO AM-830 at 6:40, 7:40 and 8:40 a.m. and on Podcast twice a week at www.startribune.com/sidcast. shartman@startribune.com