Here’s a few items that will surely be day-after talkers out of the Vikings 48-30 win over Philadelphia.
Adrian Peterson said after being deactivated Sunday that he was “ready to roll” for the contest. According to the Star Tribune, AP also added “the decision was taken out of my hands.”
Head coach Leslie Frazier acknowledged after the game that he told Peterson that the decision was made by coaches that he would not play. Frazier added the decision “was not easy…he was pushing all the way to this morning (to play)…I think he understands it was the right thing to do.”
Backup Toby Gerhart also missed the game with a hamstring injury, with Frazier saying at his postgame presser he thought Gerhart would be able to play. Instead, third-string running back Matt Asiata got the start, scoring three times after having just three carries his entire career entering Sunday.
Asiata’s only wish? That his father, who died in October after a bus accident, was there to see the game.
One more issue of contention out of the game was Jerome Simpson.
This time, it’s not what Simpson did, but what the Viking receiver is saying a referee did.
Simpson claims after being flagged for taunting, a referee he would not name said something that “ain’t right.”
Simpson added: “I kind of didn’t like what he said…I’m going to let him live…I ain’t going to talk to the league about it.”
The former Cincinnati Bengal did confirm that the remark was not racist, though he did not specify what the official said.
One final quick note on Vikings special teams.
If you didn’t notice, and it’s understandable if you didn’t considering the long-snapper goes largely unnoticed, Jared Allen was on long-snapping duties briefly Sunday.
The regular long-snapper, Cullen Loeffler, had his hand stomped on during a Blair Walsh extra point in the fourth-quarter. He would return after Allen successfully converted one snap to Jeff Locke.
It’s not Allen’s first time long-snapping, as he filled in for the final five games of the 2011 season.
A man of many talents.
