18. Peterson bounces back with 150+ rushing yards
After putting together a string of impressive performances, Adrian Peterson was hoping to keep the momentum going in Week 9 for the Washington Redskins against a favorable in the Atlanta Falcons, who haven’t seen the best play from their defense so far in 2018. Instead, Peterson had another one of those games to forget in which the Falcons limited the veteran running back to just 17 rushing yards on nine carries, but that doesn’t mean there’s reason for concern heading into this weekend.
While Washington is still in great shape overall since they hold a one-game lead over the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC East standings, a game against a horrendous defense in the Tampa Bay Buccaneers should help Peterson and company get back on track. Dating back to last year, defense was a major concern for the Buccaneers, and unfortunately the unit seems to have picked up right where they left off when seeing some of their struggles this season.
Losing another game in which they arguably should win would be crushing for Washington, but at least a strong outing by Peterson would give them a good chance of taking down the Buccaneers. Then again, as great as Peterson has been at times, the key factor for the Redskins in this one could come down to the play on defense, and whether they can keep Ryan Fitzpatrick in check.