Vikings coach Leslie Frazier didn't blame his players after the team's comeback against the Falcons fell short on Sunday. Minnesota lost 24-14 after Frazier's decision to go for it on fourth down at Atlanta's one-yard line backfired. "I told the players that's more on me," Frazier said, adding, "I let my emotions get the best of me." There were four minutes remaining in the game, plenty of time for the Vikings to kick an easy field goal and hope their defense stopped the Falcons. "That's purely on me," he said. "Just a bad mistake on my part, putting us in that position. But the guys did battle right until the very end. I just have to be smarter in that situation. ... It's something I've got to learn from."

Vikings running back Adrian Peterson won't play in Sunday's game against the Falcons. Peterson is dealing with a sprained left ankle. The Vikings announced Saturday that Peterson had been downgraded on the injury report from doubtful to out and would not travel with the team to Atlanta. This will be only the fourth game in Peterson's five-year NFL career that he will miss.

Vikings running back Adrian Peterson is doubtful for Sunday's game at Atlanta because of a high ankle sprain. Peterson hasn't practiced all week after hurting his left ankle last week against Oakland. He was carted off the sideline Sunday and X-rays were negative. "With the limited amount of things he was able to do today, very, very doubtful he would make it, though," Minnesota coach Leslie Frazier said. Peterson is sixth in the NFL in rushing with 872 yards. He's tied with Philadelphia's LeSean McCoy with a league-leading 12 touchdowns.

Vikings running back Adrian Peterson has a high ankle sprain that will put him in a walking boot this week, leaving his availability for Sunday's game at Atlanta in question. Minnesota coach Leslie Frazier said Monday that Peterson has a Grade 1 sprain, the least severe of the three categories, with "a little bit of" ligament damage. "The good news is there's nothing more serious than that," Frazier said, adding: "He'll recover from it. It's just the amount of time that he'll miss. We'll have a better indication toward the end of the week."

Vikings running back Adrian Peterson sprained his left ankle at the end the first quarter of Sunday's 27-21 loss to Oakland. He did not return to the game. X-rays showed no breaks, coach Leslie Frazier said afterward, and Peterson was still in his shoulder pads on the sideline during the second half. He will have an MRI to make sure there's no more damage.

The AFC The Buddy Nix Brian Galliford of Buffalo Rumblings: “Teams have figured out how to generate pressure on [Ryan] Fitzpatrick, and he's become sloppy with the football as a result. Fitzpatrick's depleted receiving corps is limited in what it can accomplish in terms of the route tree, and they haven't been making plays for him.” The Jeff Ireland Omar Kelly of The South Florida Sun-Sentinel: “[Reggie] Bush, who needs 108 yards to eclipse his career-high rushing total of 581 yards, which he produced in his rookie season (2007), made it clear Sunday his motivation is proving to the world he's a productive rusher, and not a gimmick player.” The Jonathan Kraft The Boston Globe: “Only one of their remaining seven opponents has a winning record. And on Monday night the Kansas City Chiefs are expected to start a quarterback against them who has thrown just 13 NFL passes.” The Mike Tannenbaum Gang Green Nation: “[LaDainian] Tomlinson trails Marshall Faulk by 948 yards for fourth on the list. Considering where we are at in the season, it seems unlikely he will reach it in 2011 or in a Jets uniform if he continues playing after this year.” The Ozzie Newsome Baltimore Beatdown: “Although the Baltimore Ravens offense has looked inept at times this season, the blame can not be put squarely on their quarterback.” The Mike Brown Jason Garrison of Cincy Jungle: “Even though the Bengals lost to the Steelers in their Week 10 matchup on Sunday, that didn't stop Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger from being impressed by Bengals rookie quarterback Andy Dalton.” The Tom Heckert Chris Pokorny of Dawgs By Nature: “More details are being told about the Cleveland Browns’ final field goal attempt by Phil Dawson that went wide left.” The Kevin Colbert John Stephens of Behind The Steel Curtain: “The Steelers are again ahead, late in the game, trying to waste away the clock by getting first downs and running high % plays. Here is where you could call BA insane, he calls almost the exact same play that failed against the Ravens, a screen to the TE/FB.” The Rick Smith Paul Kuharsky of ESPN.com: “Matt Leinart’s seen how Brooks Reed has produced for the Texans since Mario Williams went down. He said in a conference call with reporters Monday evening he’s hoping to fill in for Matt Schaub with similar success.” The Chris Polian Stampede Blue: “Curtis Painter is no longer allowed to throw. I hate to kick a guy when he's down but after another ghastly performance, Curtis Painter has proven he simply doesn't belong in the NFL. I am surprised he put up the numbers he did in the Big 10. The way he's playing now, I doubt he'd even start in the Patriot League.” The Gene Smith Michael Appelbaum of Big Cat Country: “Wins are wins. Everyone appreciates wins. This team is better than last year in some areas, but there is still much improvement left to be made. The question I have been asking myself, especially after an important win on Monday night against the Ravens rather than the win this past Sunday, is if these wins that are few and far between so far are improving Del Rio's chances of returning to the Jaguars next season.” The Mike Reinfeldt Music City Miracles: “We have given Damian Williams a rough time here. We were all excited about his potential before the season started, but he looked really inconsistent at the end of camp and early in the season. He has had his problems in the last few weeks, but he really does look like he is starting to put it together.” The Brian Xanders John Bena of Mile High Reoprt: “The Denver Broncos went to Kansas City on Sunday and beat the Chiefs -- in Arrowhead Stadium. This comes a week after the Broncos went to Oakland and beat the Raiders -- another tough place to play for the Broncos, or any team.” The Scott Pioli Lyle Graverson of Arrowhead Addict: “Let me be very clear, I really like Matt Cassel. I’ve liked him since he set foot in Kansas City. He seems like a great guy and a great teammate. He’s a hard worker and it’s hard not to cheer for the guy. He’s the ultimate underdog having never played a single game at QB in college.” The Al Davis Rich Langford of Silver and Black Pride: “It's hard to believe, but the Raiders are in solo possession of first place in the AFC West. And they are only one game behind in the loss column from the best record in the AFC. It is represents a shocking turnaround in perception and reality from where we were this time last week.” The Dean Spanos John Gennero of Bolts From The Blue: “Denarius Moore, a rookie taken in the 5th round by the Oakland Raiders, finished Thursday night's game with 123 yards and 2 TDs on 5 catches. He burned Quentin Jammer in ways that we haven't seen Jammer get burned in years. It's time to face facts about the San Diego Chargers. Not all of their problems are the fault of health and Philip Rivers. The defense, in particular, hasn't been very good this season with its new influx of talent and Defensive Coordinator Greg Manusky.” The NFC The Stephen Jones Blogging The Boys: “The Cowboys dominating victory over Buffalo propelled them to an above .500 record for the first time since a Week 3 home victory over the Washington Redskins, who just so happen to be the team up next on their schedule.” The Jerry Reese Ralph Vacchiano of The New York Daily News: “Not until the very last second, when Eli Manning’s last pass to a seemingly open receiver, bounced of the hands of a defender, did the Giants stop believing. They were sure they were going to pull out another fourth-quarter comeback, because that’s what they always seem to do.” The Howie Roseman Bleeding Green Nation: “Whether it was a coincidence or not, the Eagles WR corps probably had their worst game of the season the same week DeSean Jackson was benched for disciplinary reasons. While Michael Vick clearly struggled with his accuracy today, the receivers still had trouble getting open, dropped passes and in the case of Steve Smith made dumb mental errors.” The Bruce Allen Mike Jones of The Washington Post: “Washington Redskins coach Mike Shanahan said that Rex Grossman will remain the starting quarterback as the team prepares to host the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday.” The Jerry Angelo Dan Pompei of The Chicago Tribune: “A lot of players contributed to the Bears' 37-13 victory Sunday over the Lions, but no one was more responsible than Julius Peppers. He was the wild card on the defensive line, as Peppers moved around in order to create favorable matchups and avoid extra blocking attention.” The Martin Mayhew Sean Yuille of Pride of Detroit: “With demand very high for the Thanksgiving matchup between the Lions and the potentially undefeated Green Bay Packers, standing room only tickets are once again going to be made available. The Lions are only going to sell 1,500 tickets this time.” The Mark Murphy Tyer Dunne of The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel: “Monday night, a convincing 45-7 beatdown of the Vikings, was Green Bay's most complete game of the season.” The Mark Wilf Christopher Gates of Daily Norseman: “Whenever the Minnesota Vikings play the team they played on Monday night, they eat at Lombardi's Steakhouse at the Radisson Hotel in Appleton. Well, it turns out that, according to what Visanthe Shiancoe said on his Facebook page, Vikings' running back Adrian Peterson got a little more with his meal than he was originally expecting.” The Thomas Dimitroff D. Orlando Ledbetter of The Atlanta Journal-Constution: “A day after coach Mike Smith’s controversial fourth-down call, the Falcons returned to their practice facility determined to bounce back from their 26-23 overtime loss to the Saints.” The Marty Hurney : “Prior to this game, the Panther offense and OC Rob Chudzinski had been able to counter this type of scheme but throws to the TE and swing passes out of the backfield. Obviously that didn't work too good. I wonder how much of an impact not having TE Jeremy Shockey available had. Shockey left the game early with an injury for which I'm still waiting to hear about. “ The Mickey Loomis Kevin Spain of The Times-Picayune: “The Times-Picayune's James Varney and Mike Triplett break down the New Orleans Saints defensive performance against Atlanta on Sunday.” The Mark Dominik Stephen Holder of St. Petersburg Times: “Before taking the podium at his post-game press conference on Sunday and telling the assembled media to point fingers at him, Bucs coach Raheem Morris accepted the blame for Sunday’s loss in front of his team. But after some reflection, players this morning began accepting the fact they should bear much of the blame for Tampa Bay’s current three-game losing streak.” The Rod Graves Kent Somers of The Arizona Republic: “Ken Whisenhunt understands that there will be considerable discussion this week about which quarterback he should start in San Francisco. Whisenhunt also knows he doesn't have to participate in the conversation until circumstances dictate.” The Billy Devaney Jim Thomas of The St. Louis Post-Dispatch: “With Phil Dawson, one of the league's best kickers, lining up for what basically was an extra point, quarterback Sam Bradford knew he'd have to rally the Rams from a two-point deficit in the final 2 minutes of play.” The Trent Baalke David Fucillo of Niners Nation: “On the 49ers opening drive of the game, nine of the twelve plays were passes. On that drive, Alex Smith was 6 of 9 for 67 yards. On seven of their ten drives (excluding the final kneel-down plays), the 49ers opened the drive with a pass. On those seven drives, Smith had one incompletion, one play for four yards and the other five started with a pass play of five or more yards.” The John Schneider Thomas Beekers of Field Gulls: “Now, this wasn't a perfect win. We needed a lot of luck to counter-balance our lack of scoring ability, and that's a problem. This doesn't suddenly make us contenders nor should it make you look at the team completely differently. But what's interesting is not that it was perfect but that it fit the model we know Pete Carroll wants so well.”

Vikings coach Leslie Frazier says cornerback Antoine Winfield broke his collarbone and is likely out for the rest of the season. Winfield suffered the injury in Monday night's 45-7 loss to rival Green Bay. He was playing in his first game since hurting his neck against Kansas City on Oct. 2.