The Facts: Immediately after the 2012 season, Peterson made one of those statements that would sound like a throwaway comment from anyone else. After coming nine yards short of breaking the NFL single-season rushing record, Peterson told NFL Network that he wanted to rush for 2,500 yards in 2013. Four months later, Peterson still sounds serious about it; he's listing it as a goal. "It's not something I'm going to focus on early. I'll let the chips fall where they may. I've got my bar set for 2,500 yards," Peterson told SI.com recently.

Diehards Line:Remember: Peterson is delivered a legendary performance coming off reconstructive knee surgery. He reached his peak in December despite playing through an abdominal muscle tear. It's an injury that makes it very difficult to maintain effectiveness at the highest level of professional football. To put the 2012 NFL MVP's late-season performance in perspective, Peterson rushed for nearly the same amount of yards (1,598) over the final 10 games as Redskins rookie Alfred Morris did (1,606) over the entire course of the season. If not for the injury, however, it's highly likely that Peterson would have broken Eric Dickerson's single-season NFL rushing record. Citing the sore abdomen, Peterson passed up a chance to pad his stats in the fourth quarter of the Vikings' Week 16 victory over the Houston Texans. So does 2,500 yards seem ridiculous? Yes. About as ridiculous as what he did given the circumstances last season.