Harvin v Peterson

By MikeBullock  |   Thursday, November 05, 2009  |  Comments( 0 )

Minnesota Vikings
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Yesterday, the NFL Channel ran a very interesting stat comparison between Adrian Peterson and Percy Harvin over the last few games. As much as Peterson has done for the Vikings, it was surprising to see that Harvin has actually done more recently. In Sunday’s game against the Pack, Harvin caught 84 yards worth of passes, ran up 175 yards returning kicks and scored a touchdown as icing on the cake. Add it all together and you have a stellar performance totaling 261 yards (when you consider his 2-yard rush). And with that came yet another Rookie of the Week nomination.

Peterson, on the other hand, caught a pass for 44 yards, rushed for 97 more and scored a touchdown, placing his all-purpose yardage total at 141 on the day. That’s nowhere near Harvin’s numbers, but still nothing to sneeze at. Especially since Peterson doesn’t really return kicks.

Looking deeper than just the “what have you done for me lately” stats, we see on the year to date, Harvin has 369 total receiving yards, 39 rushing yards, 860 kick return yards and 5 touchdowns, two of which came on kick returns. His all-purpose total being 1268 yards.

Conversely, Peterson’s YTD totals are 784 rushing yards, 189 receiving yards, and 9 trips to paydirt. His yardage total so far is 973. During this time, Peterson has been the lead dog in the NFL rushing pack on numerous occasions, but is currently tied for second with St. Louis Rams RB Stephen Jackson, behind Tennessee’s Chris Johnson. (It’s interesting to note two of the three rushing leaders are on a pair of the worst teams in the league, but that’s a story for another day.)

Stopping to look at these numbers brings about some pleasant surprises for Vikings fans, mainly from Harvin’s highlight reel. And, while some have voiced disappointment that Peterson hasn’t shattered the century mark every week, the only statistic that really counts when all is said and done is the number next to the “W” column. That would be a 7 for those not keeping score at home.

Aside from the comparisons, when you add up the numbers from these two electric players, you’ll see a combined total yardage output of 2241 and 14 touchdowns. When you break that down, you’ll see that Harvin and Peterson alone are gobbling up more yards than the entire offenses of the San Francisco 49ers, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Buffalo Bills, Kansas City Chiefs, Cleveland Browns and Oakland Raiders. Doing the same with touchdowns and they’ve outscored nine entire offensive teams.

Two guys, outscoring 99 others. Let that sink in for a minute.

Granted, Harvin’s return stats don’t land in the Vikings total offensive numbers, but it’s impossible to genuinely argue against the impact those yards have on the Vikings offensive output.

While it’s hard to really determine one way or another which player means more to Purple Pride these days, one thing is for sure, Harvin and Peterson in competition is a great problem to have.
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