Patrick Peterson Has Circled a Particular Game on the Vikings 2022 Schedule
The showdown doesn’t transpire for 5.5 months, but Minnesota Vikings cornerback Patrick Peterson has already circled a specific contest on the team’s 2022 schedule.
Peterson hinted at the game, tweeting on Friday the 2022 slate of opponents with a heavy implied emphasis on his favorite.
And that’s the Week 8 battle with the Arizona Cardinals, Peterson’s former team. Peterson spent 10 seasons with the Cardinals before joining the Vikings in 2021. In the desert, he reached seven Pro Bowls and was recognized as First-Team All-Pro thrice.
During the 2021 offseason, Peterson — out of nowhere — signed with the Vikings on St. Patrick‘s Day, lured to the organization by then-head coach Mike Zimmer. Before the Vikings defense tumbled at the start of the 2020 season, Zimmer was known as a defensive mastermind, and Peterson wanted a piece of his brain.
Yet, Zimmer was terminated in January after an 8-9 record, leaving mystery about whether Peterson would re-sign in Minnesota. He mentioned the Dallas Cowboys and Kansas City Chiefs as possible landing spots for his 12th NFL season but ultimately chose a sequel with the Vikings. His reasoning? He considers Minnesota’s 2022 roster “stacked.”
Peterson squared off against his old team last year, too. But that game in Arizona ended miserably for the Vikings. Led by a 244-passing-yard day with three touchdowns and no interceptions from quarterback Kirk Cousins, Minnesota still lost to Arizona in Week 1 of 2021 by the score of 34-33. Cousins whisked the Vikings into chip-shot field goal position to potentially knock off the Cardinals, but kicker Greg Joseph missed a 37-yard field goal that would’ve walked off the redbirds.
The miss would be an indicator of fate for the 2021 Vikings.
Nonetheless, Peterson opted to join the Vikings once again in free agency a couple of months ago.
Peterson’s eyes on the Cardinals this season aren’t the only vengeful ones. When the schedule dropped on Thursday, former Green Bay Packers EDGE rusher Za’Darius Smith tweeted an acknowledgment of the Week 1 game against his old team.
The Vikings regular season begins in 120 days.
Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. Subscribe to his daily YouTube Channel, VikesNow. He hosts a podcast with Bryant McKinnie, which airs every Wednesday with Raun Sawh and Sally from Minneapolis. His Viking fandom dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ and The Doors (the band).
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