Adrian Peterson targets NFL rushing record

Adrian Peterson is back and looking to be better than ever -- and everybody.

The Minnesota Vikings running back has 1,600 yards rushing with three games left to play a season after tearing the ACL and MCL in his left knee. But his goal isn’t 2,000 yards; he wants 2,106.

After tearing apart the Chicago Bears’ depleted defense for 154 yards and two touchdowns, including a 51-yard scamper on the game’s first play from scrimmage, Peterson told Peter King of Sports Illustrated that he’s eying the single-season rushing record of 2,105 yards, set by Hall of Fame running back Eric Dickerson as a member of the Los Angeles Rams in 1984.

He would need to gain about 169 yards a game the rest of the way to accomplish the feat. It seems improbable, but Peterson has averaged 157 yards rushing in the Vikings’ last seven games after a slow (by comparison) start to the season, when he averaged 83 yards in the team’s first six games.

Peterson will try to close in on the record next Sunday as the Vikings head to St. Louis to take on the Rams.

The Vikings improved to 7-6 on the season by defeating the Bears, 21-14. They will look to improve their chances of making the playoffs, as they are now one of three teams one game off the pace of the Bears for the second wild-card spot. The other two teams -- Dallas and Washington -- each hold the tiebreaker over the Vikings.

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