Sid Hartman: Peterson is striving to be receiver, too

Adrian Peterson reached 4,000 yards rushing fourth-fastest among running backs in the history of the NFL, but now he is also complementing his running with some great pass catching.

A year ago after nine games, Peterson had 15 catches for 98 yards.

Well, after Sunday, when he had two receptions for 10 yards, he now, in the same number of games, has 21 catches for 199 yards, quite an improvement.

"Yeah, I just didn't get a lot of opportunities last year to catch the ball," Peterson said. "This year we're spreading the ball out a little more so opportunities are there.

"I feel like pass receiving, it comes natural to me, but you can always work to improve."

Peterson said he learns a lot from the team's new veteran quarterback, Brett Favre.

"Of course, oh yeah, I learn a lot from him," he said. "Yeah, he's always giving me different pointers, switching different plays up. He's trying to set you up to be in the best position when you're out there."

Speaking about his rushing total he said: "It was a pretty good game, pretty big day."

Peterson had a chance to score four touchdowns on Sunday. He did score two. In the first quarter, the Vikings had the ball on the Lions 11-yard line, and Peterson gained 8 yards on first down. But a false-start penalty set the Vikings back, and a Peterson run for 4 yards left the Vikings short and led to a field goal.

Then there was the great run he made late in the second quarter only to fumble as he got in the end zone, where the ball was recovered by the Lions.

As for the fumble, he credited the Lions' Phillip Buchanon, who knocked the ball loose. "He just made a great play, I've got to give him his dues," Peterson said. "Yeah, I let one get away from me today -- took my eyes off it at the last second."

Rice near mark Sidney Rice on Sunday became only the fourth Vikings wide receiver to catch passes for more than 200 yards in a game.

Rice made a sensational catch of a 56-yard pass from Favre in the fourth quarter. When coach Brad Childress was told that Rice had a chance to become No. 1 among Vikings wide receivers in single-game passing yardage, a 10-yard pass play was called. Quarterback Tarvaris Jackson lobbed a pass to Rice, but he dropped it even though it was right in his hands.

Sammy White holds the record with 210 yards vs. the Lions in 1976, followed by Randy Moss with 204 against the Bears in 1999 and Paul Flatley with 202 against the 49ers in 1965

Favre, who completed 20 of 29 passes for 344 yards, one touchdown and a sensational 120.5 quarterback rating, was asked how Rice compares with the great receivers he has played with.

"He is as good as any of the best," Favre said. Asked to compare Rice with Donald Driver, the Packers wide receiver to whom Favre threw for a long time, Favre said the two are different.

And when Favre was asked for the name of the play that produced the 56-yard catch Sunday, Favre said, "I just throw the ball up in the air and hope Rice catches it, and he seems to catch those most of the time."

Lions dangerous? In the third quarter of Sunday's game, the visitors had 22 plays to the Vikings' 12 and 97 yards to the Vikings' 58, something that concerned linebacker Chad Greenway, who had six combination tackles Sunday, behind leader Cedric Griffin with nine and E.J Henderson with seven.

"With the weapons they have it always concerns you, with big Calvin [Johnson] on the outside, and their rookie tight ends did a good job," Greenway said. "So, you really have to limit what they can do, and we tried to stay focused on what they were doing there and get off the field.

"They got the drive on us in the third. A few things didn't go our way -- a penalty didn't go our way -- and you've got to keep battling. So, for us we played better in the fourth quarter and it was all about getting off the field. Guys played a great game. Cedric played a great game, and guys were flying around making tackles."

On another subject, Greenway, who played at Mount Vernon High School in South Dakota, reported that two sons of his high school coach, Myron Steffen, started Saturday for South Dakota State against the Gophers. Mike Steffen is a wide receiver, and Jake Steffen is a defensive end. Mount Vernon plays nine-man football, and Greenway said it was a lot of fun to watch two other nine-man guys play at a high level against the Gophers. Mike had two catches for 26 yards, and Jake made three tackles.

Culpepper has memories Daunte Culpepper, a Vikings quarterback from 1999 to 2005 and now a backup for the Lions, said it was nice to return to the Twin Cities.

Had Culpepper not suffered a serious knee injury in 2005, he might still be wearing the purple.

"You never know," he said.

How does he appraise the Vikings?

"They've got a really good team," he said. "They've got a chance to go all the way.

"You never know, but I think they've got a lot of talent and a lot of guys that can play good football."

"They're a great team, probably got as good a shot as anyone to win the Super Bowl," he said. "Everybody is playing well. That's a tough team to beat.

"No question. They prove it every week.

"I think all their players are great players. They've proven it every week."

Dugan scoring Vikings tight end Jeff Dugan had one touchdown in his first five seasons with the Vikings. Now he has scored a touchdown two games in a row. Half of his catches this season have resulted in touchdowns.