We need to go back and look at Adrian Peterson’s incredible performance from the 2007 season in which he set the record for most rushing yards in a single game with 296.

Yesterday we documented LeSean McCoy’s efforts for the Philadelphia Eagles in the snow during the 2013 season, arguably one of the best performances from a running back that the league has ever seen when you consider the conditions that he had to do it in. 

But for the actual best, at least in terms of numbers, we need to look at the performance of Adrian Peterson for the Minnesota Vikings when he went to town on the San Diego Chargers during the 2007 season. What makes the whole thing all the more impressive is that this was his rookie season in the National Football League.

And if you were looking for a ‘breakout game’, something to announce yourself to the league that you are going to be a great player, then this was exactly the way to do it.

Destined for greatness out of the gate

Although, that isn’t strictly true when it comes to Peterson, as he already had his ‘breakout game’ a couple of weeks previously against the division rival Chicago Bears when he had three rushing touchdowns and 224 yards off of just 20 carries to set a franchise record, something that obviously wouldn’t last very long.

Having been taken with the #7 pick in the 2007 NFL Draft, Peterson would go on to become on of the best running backs of his generation, arguably one of the best that the league has ever seen and quite possibly on his way to the Hall of Fame, as he racked up over 15,000 rushing yards and 125 touchdowns across the regular and postseason. 

But when you think of Peterson’s on-field performances, there’s really only one performance that should come to mind.

Charging through the Chargers

Whilst there might be some level of oversight from opponents in a player’s rookie season, afterall nobody knows quite how they will adjust to the league, even if they did well at the college level, the fact that he had put up so many yards against the Bears a few weeks previously should have been enough of a warning to the Chargers that they really needed to stop this guy.

Those warnings though were not heeded, and 30 carries later, Peterson put his name in the record books as he took control of the game from start to finish top help see the Vikings through to a 35-17 victory:

As we have discussed before, with the way that the NFL is going, becoming more of a pass-orientated league, there are a lot of rushing records that aren’t likely to ever be broken, and this certainly seems like it will be one of them, barring some drastic change in the landscape of the NFL or if another incredibly gifted player comes along.