Vikings running back Adrian Peterson grew up in Texas. His favorite team? The Cowboys.

Now that he's the star tailback for the team the Cowboys will face in the playoffs on Sunday, some of his family members are having trouble setting aside their affinity for the local team.

"I've got a lot of family that's kind of uneven what side they're pulling for," Peterson recently said, according to the Minneapolis Star Tribune. "We've got some diehard Cowboys fans."

Peterson has faced the Cowboys only once before. As a rookie in 2007, he carried 12 times for 63 yards -- a week after he racked up 224 against the Bears and two weeks before setting the single-game record of 296 against the Chargers.

Reminded of the Cowboys' success in stopping the run this year, Peterson told Chip Scoggins of the Star Tribune that the Cowboys "haven't played the Minnesota Vikings this year."

But the Minnesota Vikings this year haven't had the same kind of rushing attack that they had in Peterson's first two NFL seasons.

In 2009, the Vikings ranked 13th in the NFL, with 1,918 rushing yards, an average of 119.9 per game. In 2008, the Vikings generated 2,338 rushing yards, good for 146.1 per game. The prior season, the Vikings topped the league with 2,634 rushing yards, which resulted from a whopping 164.6 per game.

Though the presence of Brett Favre and the increased potency of the passing game are factors in the de-emphasis on the run, the average per carry has dropped from 5.3 yards in 2007 to 4.5 in 2008 to 4.1 this season.

And Peterson has had only three 100-yard games this season, maxing out with 180 in Week One against the Browns.

Though none of the Vikings' postseason games (whether there are one, two, or three) will be played in poor weather conditions (unless another rainstorm parks over Miami during the Super Bowl), one of the best running backs in the game will need to be better utilized in the postseason, if the Vikings hope to ultimately improve their Super Bowl won-loss record to 1-4.

If it happens, those family members with divided loyalties likely will be fully converted to Peterson's purple cause.

I wonder if AP's family also debates the relative merits of:
1. Having a wisdom tooth pulled without novocaine.
2. Having several cavities filled without novocaine.

I understand why Minnesotans might want to be Viking fans -- after all, stranger things can happen if you stay outside in the cold or drive on Minnesota roads too much.

But what the heck is a group of Texans' excuse? Surely Texans know that there are better choices than the Cowboys or Vikings.

"Wade" wrote:

"Wade" wrote:

"Wade" wrote:

You Finnish people are fricken' crazy.

Obviously, you don't get painkillers here either for regular visits, but I don't want him to put that drill in my teeth without feeling numb in my mouth.

"Rockmolder" wrote:

back on topic and not this teeth crap..

Why is it no one seems to care that his OWN family doesn't want to root for him?

Yet as Packer fans we are told we HAVE to root for Brett?

"longtimefan" wrote: