Minnesota Vikings: Six observations from the Vikings opening loss

September 14, 2015; Santa Clara, CA, USA; Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson (28) runs with the football against San Francisco 49ers strong safety Antoine Bethea (41) during the second quarter at Levi

Where was Adrian?

Minnesota Vikings fans waited for a year to see Adrian Peterson retake the field and run all over somebody’s defense. That didn’t really happen on Monday. Peterson wasn’t really given the chance to do any running over, anyway.

Peterson only was given 10 carries in the game. He ran for 31 yards and had a long of nine yards. That was it for handing the ball off to Peterson. If Peterson still truly is one of the best running backs in the game, well, you need to give him the carries of a top-tier back.

Maybe this was just a way to ease back into game action for Peterson, but the Vikings really could have used a star performance from the former MVP on a night where the offense just could not get going.

The one interesting thing from the game was that Adrian Peterson did catch three passes in the game. It’s not that Adrian doesn’t catch the ball, it’s just that it was a higher percentage usual. Peterson averages two catches a game for his career and has only caught over 40 passes in a season twice in his career.

Next: Protect the goods!