Peterson should be ready to return against Detroit

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - Adrian Peterson is a go.

That was the word in the Vikings' euphoric locker room Sunday after their 41-17 victory over the New York Giants. The rookie tailback should return to the lineup Sunday against Detroit, three weeks after tearing the lateral collateral ligament in his right knee.

Internally, the team considered Peterson healthy enough to play against the Giants but decided to give him one more week to recover. He continued his rehabilitation Sunday morning at Giants Stadium -- in front of national media members who believed he was testing out the knee for possible spot duty -- and will participate in most of practice Wednesday at Winter Park.

Coach Brad Childress said Peterson will play against the Lions "providing he's able to make it through a week of practice."

Childress added: "He's just got to continue to progress and make it through a full week of practice and our game plan."

Peterson admitted he lobbied to play Sunday but said, "It didn't work." Nevertheless, he is growing more comfortable with a custom-fit brace and is confident he is on target in his rehabilitation.

"Once I get a full week of practice under my belt," he said, "I'm pretty sure I'll be ready to play. We're just going to take it one day at a time. Each day I've been improving, so [I'll] try to keep it up."

Run defense stiffens

New York running back Reuben Droughns, starting because of injuries to Brandon Jacobs and Derrick Ward, rushed for 25 yards on the Giants' first series, including a 1-yard touchdown. However, for the rest of the game, Droughns managed only 21 yards on the ground.

"We came out kind of tight on the first drive and they scored," Vikings nose tackle Pat Williams said. "After that, we basically told everybody to calm down. I told the guys, 'Just go out there and have some fun.' That's what we did."

The Giants finished with 75 rushing yards, the ninth time this season the Vikings have limited an opponent to fewer than 100 yards on the ground.

Getting defensive

By definition, the Tampa-2 defensive scheme the Vikings run calls for pressure to be applied by the front four and not much blitzing. But first-year defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier has put his own twist on things in three of the past four games by calling for frequent blitzes and plenty of disguises to confuse quarterbacks.

It worked well Sunday against an overwhelmed Eli Manning. He was sacked three times and also threw four interceptions and several errant passes in large part because of the Vikings' pressure.

Safety Darren Sharper, who has expressed frustration about not being in a playmaking role as much as he would like this season, said he was moved around "a lot more" on Sunday. Sharper finished with a interception return for a touchdown.

Linebackers Ben Leber and E.J. Henderson also frequently showed blitz, and Leber admitted that part of the disguise left Manning and the Giants confused as to what position each linebacker was playing. This caused New York center Shaun O'Hara to be turned the wrong way on some occasions.

"He's learning us as we're learning him," Sharper said of Frazier's scheme. "He's seeing the things that we do well, and each and every week he's getting better as far as putting us in position to make plays. And the thing about it is, if you do something and you're successful, the coach is more likely to call it again."

Better on third down

After going 1-for-15 on third-down conversions in the past two games, the Vikings were 5-for-13 (38 percent) on third down Sunday. That was their third-best percentage of the season behind games against Detroit (8-for-18, 44 percent) and San Diego (6-for-13, 46.2 percent).

"It's continued emphasis on it," offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell said. "We have to continue to emphasize it, we have to get better at that area. ... Obviously, we're always trying to design the play to put the guys in the best position to be open, but sometimes those guys have to make a play and they were able to do some of that today."

The Vikings also helped themselves by staying in manageable situations on third down. The worst position the Vikings had on that down was third-and-10, and that came on the second-to-last play of the game.

They also got lucky at times. On a third-and-3 from the Vikings 40-yard line, quarterback Tarvaris Jackson fumbled as he was being sacked by Giants defensive end Osi Umenyiora. The ball proceeded to go 14 yards and was picked up by receiver Bobby Wade for a first down at the 50.

On the run

Jackson had an interesting series on the Vikings' first possession of the third quarter. On third-and-4 from the Minnesota 29, Jackson scrambled up the middle and took on safety Gibril Wilson at the end of a 19-yard gain. This came after Jackson suffered a concussion on a similar running play this month against San Diego.

Five plays later, Jackson was about to be sacked by Giants defensive end Michael Strahan when he made a nice escape and went 11 yards for another first down. Jackson wasn't done.

On second-and-7 from the Giants 24, Jackson handed the ball to Chester Taylor. The veteran running back went right, bounced off Strahan and cut back left with Jackson leading the way. The quarterback attempted a half-hearted block as Taylor ran 3 yards.

Robbins makes noise

Former Vikings nose tackle Fred Robbins, who signed with the Giants in 2004, had an active day. He finished with a game-high eight solo tackles, along with 1½ sacks and two other hurries of Jackson.

"I don't care about statistics other than the win," said Robbins, the Vikings' second-round draft choice in 2000.

Injury report and inactives

The Vikings lost two players during the game:

• Safety Tank Williams injured his knee during a first-quarter kick return and did not return. He will undergo an MRI exam today.

• Receiver Troy Williamson suffered a head injury while returning a third-quarter kickoff and missed the rest of the game. Childress did not term the injury a concussion but said Williamson "didn't quite clear up."

Before the game, the Vikings deactivated Peterson and cornerback Antoine Winfield (strained hamstring) for health reasons. Their other inactive players were safety Mike Doss, tight end Garrett Mills, offensive lineman Chase Johnson, receiver Aundrae Allison and defensive end Jayme Mitchell. Kelly Holcomb was the third quarterback.

Etc.

• What is it about the Vikings defense and Giants Stadium? It didn't count in the statistics but when the Vikings beat the New York Jets 37-20 in a preseason game on Aug. 17, both Sharper (40 yards) and linebacker Chad Greenway (16 yards) returned interceptions for TDs.

• Jackson's 60-yard touchdown pass to Sidney Rice in the first quarter was the quarterback's third scoring toss of 60 yards this season. The team record of four is held by Fran Tarkenton (1962) and Tommy Kramer (1986). Those three touchdown passes are Jackson's only touchdown passes this season.

• The Giants' 24-point defeat was their worst since a 31-7 loss Dec. 5, 2004 in Washington and their biggest loss at home since a 50-21 setback on Sept. 19, 1999 against the Redskins.

• Giants tight end Jeremy Shockey on his team's performance: "We're a good team, but if we play like that, we're not going to win against a high school team."

KEVIN SEIFERT AND JUDD ZULGAD