Veteran running back Adrian Peterson was signed to the Tennessee Titans’ practice squad last week. On Sunday, he scored his 125th career touchdown in the Titans’ 28-16 win over the Los Angeles Rams. Peterson became just the 12th player in NFL history to reach the milestone.
The veteran was unemployed for the first eight football weeks of 2021. The Titans picked him up when Derrick Henry suffered a broken foot. Henry will be out for most of the rest of the season. The 2020 Offensive Player of the Year is expected to miss six to ten weeks.
Ageless
The Titans job is Peterson’s sixth different stop in his 15 seasons. He now has 14,841 career rushing yards, and of course, 125 career touchdowns. His 119 career rushing touchdowns are fourth best of all-time.
The 36-year old scored 13 of those touchdowns in his two seasons in Washington.
There just aren’t many other “36-year old running backs,” that spring to mind.
Except for maybe John Riggins of course.
Peterson couldn’t have found a better solution for himself in 2021. Sit tight for the first half of the season, and then come into a solid playoff-bound team, with a very established run game. His career totals are going to going to get topped up even more.
On The Horizon
While Peterson may have only had 21 yards in his first game with the Titans, he did have 10 carries. The Titans are comfortable handing him the rock.
Four or five more touchdowns is definitely possible if he plays out the full remaining season in Tennessee.
That gives him a shot at moving into third place all-time in career rushing touchdowns. He is currently just four behind Marcus Allen’s 123.
Perhaps a loftier ambition, but he could also challenge Barry Sanders’ fourth in all-time career rushing yards. His 14,841 yards are 428 yards shy of Sanders’ 15,269 yards.
Amazing company to be in.
Congratulations Adrian Peterson.