Vikings Beat Rams 36-22; AP 212 Yards Rushing

The Minnesota Vikings stayed hot thanks to Adrian Peterson (again) as they went in to St. Louis and came away with a 36-22 win over the Rams.

Peterson was bottled up early, but broke an 82-yard touchdown run in the 2nd quarter to give the Vikings a 14-7 lead, a lead they wouldn't relinquish the rest of the afternoon.

Defensive lineman Everson Griffen was pushed into more work after starter Brian Robison went down with what looks like a season ending injury in the first quarter and picked off a Sam Bradford pass, returning it for a 29 yard TD.

Rookie kicker Blair Walsh connected on all five of his field goal attempts, two from 50+ yards to tie the NFL season record of eight such kicks in a season, with two games left to play.

Minnesota quarterback Christian Ponder completed 17 of 24 passes for just 131 yards with no TD's, but he didn't turn the ball over and rushed for a 5-yard score to get the Vikings on the board in the first quarter.

The story though remains Adrian Peterson who know has 1,812 rushing yards on the season and needs 294 over the final two games (against Houston and Green Bay) to surpass Eric Dickerson's record of 2,105 yards rushing set in 1984.

Minnesota is now 8-6 and tied with Chicago, two games behind Green Bay in the NFC North after the Packers downed the Bears 21-13 today. The Vikings travel to Houston next Sunday to face the 12-2 Texans, who wrapped up their division with a win over Indianapolis.