The Vikings are setting Adrian Peterson loose. They might re-sign him, but he’ll have the opportunity to sign with other teams. And with or without Peterson, Minnesota needs substantial improvement in its running game.

Minnesota’s rushing attack was remarkably bad last year, averaging a league-low 75 yards per game. They didn’t get notable tailback play, and their blocking was remarkably bad.

This was surprising, given that Minnesota normally runs the ball well (with the offensive line being more of a strength).

Comparing the last two years, Minnesota’s rushing offense suffered the biggest declines in the league in all of the major categories. They ran for 1,006 fewer yards. They averaged 1.49 fewer yards per carry. And they scored 9 fewer rushing touchdowns.

Last in all of those categories.

Minnesota has some other notable pieces. Kyle Rudolph is one of the better tight ends, and Stefon Diggs and Adam Thielen are probably an above-average pair of wide receivers. When Teddy Bridgewater gets healthy, they’ll have two starter-caliber quarterbacks (Sam Bradford isn’t great, but he set an NFL record for completion percentage last year).

But running game needs to be fixed.

RUSHING YARDS, LAST TWO YEARS
Team20152016Diff
Tennessee1,4852,187702
Dallas1,8902,396506
San Francisco1,5442,019475
New England1,4041,872468
Oakland1,4571,922465
Miami1,4961,824328
Atlanta1,6061,928322
New Orleans1,4911,742251
Buffalo2,4322,630198
Indianapolis1,4381,628190
Cleveland1,5291,712183
Jacksonville1,4731,631158
San Diego1,3581,510152
Washington1,5661,696130
Houston1,7311,859128
Philadelphia1,7431,81370
Pittsburgh1,7241,76036
Baltimore1,4781,463-15
Detroit1,3351,310-25
Cincinnati1,8051,769-36
NY Jets1,8681,802-66
Chicago1,8541,735-119
Green Bay1,8501,701-149
Arizona1,9171,732-185
NY Giants1,6091,412-197
Denver1,7181,484-234
Kansas City2,0441,748-296
Carolina2,2821,814-468
Tampa Bay2,1621,616-546
Seattle2,2681,591-677
Los Angeles1,9561,252-704
Minnesota2,2111,205-1,006
RUSHING AVERAGE LAST TWO YEARS
Team20152016Diff
Cleveland4.024.89.87
Washington3.654.47.82
Atlanta3.824.58.76
Chicago3.964.57.60
Tennessee4.004.59.59
Buffalo4.785.35.57
New Orleans3.764.31.56
Oakland3.944.43.49
San Francisco3.964.41.45
Houston3.674.08.41
Indianapolis3.633.98.35
San Diego3.463.79.34
Green Bay4.244.55.31
New England3.673.88.22
Philadelphia3.944.14.20
Dallas4.634.80.17
Miami4.354.50.15
NY Jets4.174.31.14
Baltimore3.863.99.13
Cincinnati3.873.97.10
Arizona4.244.34.10
Jacksonville4.164.16.00
Detroit3.773.74-.03
Pittsburgh4.444.30-.14
Carolina4.344.00-.33
NY Giants3.993.55-.44
Kansas City4.694.24-.45
Denver4.183.62-.56
Seattle4.543.95-.59
Tampa Bay4.753.57-1.18
Los Angeles4.563.34-1.22
Minnesota4.663.17-1.49
RUSHING TOUCHDOWNS LAST TWO YEARS
Team20152016Diff
Dallas82416
Oakland71710
Buffalo192910
San Francisco7158
Cleveland5138
Washington9178
Atlanta13207
Indianapolis6137
San Diego4106
New England14195
Arizona16204
Miami11143
Jacksonville583
Green Bay8113
Seattle10133
Baltimore8102
Detroit792
New Orleans16171
Houston781
Philadelphia15161
NY Giants561
Cincinnati1817-1
NY Jets1110-1
Denver1311-2
Pittsburgh1613-3
Chicago1310-3
Carolina1916-3
Kansas City1915-4
Tampa Bay128-4
Los Angeles169-7
Minnesota189-9

—Ian Allan