Minnesota 37, New York 20

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) -- Adrian Peterson showed why he was the Number 7 draft pick in the NFL.<br/><br/>Last night he gained 70 yards on eight carries and scored a touchdown to help Minnesota beat

Saturday, August 18th 2007, 2:24 pm

By: News On 6

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) -- Adrian Peterson showed why he was the Number 7 draft pick in the NFL.

Last night he gained 70 yards on eight carries and scored a touchdown to help Minnesota beat the New York Jets 37-20.

In the second quarter, Peterson took off down the sideline for 43 yards in his first carry before being knocked out of bounds by David Barrett. He ran up the middle six plays later for 3 yards to give Minnesota a 21-6 lead.

The Vikings managed to capitalize on the Jets' mistakes. They put the game away with 6:18 left in the third quarter on consecutive plays by Brian Robison, who sacked Kellen Clemens and forced a fumble that was recovered by Pete Kendall.

On the next play, Kendall's errant shotgun snap went over Clemens' head, and instead of falling on it, the quarterback tried to pick it up.

The ball bounced to Robison, who rumbled 3 yards into the end zone.

New York rallied when Jason Pociask caught a 23-yard touchdown pass with less than two-and-a-half minutes remaining to make it 34-20, but it wasn't enough.