With the amount of abuse Peterson is going to take these last seven games, when every team will dare any other Viking to beat it, there is no sense in risking Peterson’s knee for the glory of finishing 6-10. The only reason Peterson might not take much abuse is that with the Vikings’ passing offense being so bad, Peterson will barely be on the field.

Thanks to a league-worst (tied with San Francisco) third-down conversion rate of 30 percent, and a league-worst passing defense that gives up 285.9 yards per game that more than overcomes its stingy run defense (third-best in the NFL), the Vikings are only on the field for 28:15 per game, fourth from the bottom. Minnesota will be bad without Peterson, but it’s not that great with him. Plus, Taylor and third-stringer Mewelde Moore have both led the Vikings in rushing in the past, so it’s not like they’re throwing the rushing game into the toilet, where the passing game lives.

But the bigger reason for sitting Peterson intersects with Wilf’s own self-interest. He doesn’t need his team getting more lousy publicity while he tries to woo the populace on building him a new stadium Red McCombs couldn’t get before selling the team to Wilf in 2005.

Wilf has to sit Peterson, and maybe even promise Childress his job is safe for the year so his coach’s own lack of people and public relation skills get in the way of the right decision. After all, Childress scroogely cut receiver Marcus Robinson on Christmas Eve for complaining about his offense. He was behind the decision to dock receiver Troy Williamson’s paycheck for missing a game against San Diego so he could make arrangement for the funeral of the grandmother who raised him. In Williamson’s case, Wilf (after Childress met with angry veterans over the Williamson issue) stepped in to reverse Childress’ decision.

Childress held Jackson out of last week’s Green Bay game even though he was ready to play. Wilf had better make sure Childress uses the same caution with his franchise player that he did with a player who might not be long for the franchise.

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Wilf has to understand that with Kevin Garnett out the door and Johan Santana soon to follow, Peterson is Minnesota sports’ only transcendent star. Play Peterson and watch him get hurt, badly, and you can kiss goodbye any slim chance you had to get the public to pay for a new stadium once the Metrodome’s lease is up in 2011. Peterson provides the only good will the Vikings franchise has, and if it can’t trade on that, its existence in Minnesota could be doomed.

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