(Note: My blog, “Stats on Tapp” was recently selected as one of the Top 50 Sports Blogs by the website Scorebig. It was ranked 14th. Thank you so much to everyone who takes the time to read and enjoy my blog — Jerry Tapp)

These days with the NFL being such a “pass-happy” league, we don’t expect a running back to get 35 or more carries in a game. For the fourth time this season, however, it happened yesterday. Arizona’s Adrian Peterson had 37 carries in the Cardinals 20-10 win over San Francisco. He gained 159 yards.

It was the second time Peterson had 35 or more carries in a game… the other time was in a 2013 game when he was a member of the Minnesota Vikings. He had 35 rushing attempts for 211 yards in a game versus the Chicago Bears.

Since the 1970 merger, there have been 89 running backs that have had 35 or more rushing attempts in a game. In fact, there have been 146 games where a player carried the ball 35 or more times in a contest. Teams are 127-16-3 (.880 winning percentage) in those games.

Peterson became the 26^th running back with two or more games with 35+ carries in a career. Walter Payton had the most career games with 35+ carries with seven. He is followed by Earl Campbell and Curtis Martin with six, and Ricky Williams with five.

 StatsonTapp