Good hits have caused fumbles by Peterson

Adrian Peterson rushed for 111 yards in the Vikings' 12-10 victory over Detroit on Sunday and was ranked third in the NFL with 563 yards on the ground before the Monday night game.

But the running back has lost three fumbles in the past three games, including two against the Lions. He lost three in 14 games last year.

Asked about Peterson's fumbles, coach Brad Childress said: "Some of them are just violent hits. [They are] just that where he is stunned or his arm got numb. A couple of them might have been a little bit lower carries than we are looking for, but predominantly they are pretty good shots on the football or on a neck or head."

Peterson's first fumble Sunday came on a third-and-1 play at the Detroit 11. Peterson lost the ball at the 9 as he was being hit by Lions safety Daniel Bullocks. Former Viking Dwight Smith recovered at the Detroit 1-yard line.

Peterson lost the ball again in the fourth quarter on second-and-7 from the Detroit 43.

Childress said running backs coach Eric Bieniemy works with all the players in his position group on securing the ball and keeping it "high-and-tight."

"The thing about that is when you put that on film, whether you are in fact a fumbler or you are not a fumbler, defensive coaches look at that and you become a target," Childress said. "So when we say your tape is your résumé, with that having happened the last couple of weeks, he becomes an added target where it is, 'Hey we can take the ball from that guy.' We do. We certainly look at that all the time."

Childress elected not to go for two points after Bernard Berrian's 86-yard touchdown reception pulled the Vikings within 10-8 on Sunday.

The Vikings trailed by one point until Ryan Longwell won it with a 26-yard field goal with nine seconds remaining.

Childress was asked about this after the game and again Monday. He was fully prepared, too.

Childress asked the assembled media if any of them knew what the two-point conversion rate in the NFL is right now. After a brief moment of silence, Childress said "[I] didn't think so," and informed the crowd it is 44.8 percent.

"My point was taking the points," he said. "Now is it a sure thing you're going to kick an extra point? No, because we had a field goal blocked yesterday. I just thought it was early with what we were doing to go for two and put ourselves back."

The Lions tried to block defensive tackle Kevin Williams with only one man, and he had the best game of his career with four sacks, four quarterback hurries and eight tackles.

Asked if he thinks he will see anymore 1-on-1 matchups, Williams said: "I'm going to say my prayers tonight. Hopefully we can get that the rest of the year."

Williams gave an assist to defensive end Jared Allen, who allows Williams to avoid double teams inside.

"I told him he reminds me of Lance Johnstone when he was here," Williams said. "We had a right end that was getting pressure off the edge. You can attribute a lot of that to him. You have to account for him coming off the edge and me getting 'push' up the middle so it allows me to get some of those sacks."

• Peterson got treatment Sunday after taking a shot to his left wrist, but Childress said Peterson would be fine.

• The Vikings, in conjunction with the University of Minnesota department of pediatrics, are sponsoring three free flu clinics throughout the metro. The first one will be held today at the Midtown YWCA in Minneapolis from 3 to 7 p.m. A number of players will be present for an autograph signing starting at 3:30 p.m.