Packers: Adrian Peterson is back in the NFC North

The Packers’ run defense will face Adrian Peterson twice this season.

In 20 career games against the Green Bay Packers, including one in the playoffs, Adrian Peterson is averaging just over 100 yards on the ground.

He’s had incredible success against the Packers, as us fans know all too well. Now, he returns to the NFC North.

According to Tom Pelissero of NFL Network, Peterson is signing a one-year deal with the Detroit Lions, which means the Packers will come up against him in Weeks 2 and 14.

The seven-time Pro Bowler and 2012 NFL MVP might not be the same dominant player he was in his prime, but Peterson did rush for 1,940 yards and 12 touchdowns in two seasons at Washington Football Team, not bad numbers at all.

That included a 120-yard, two-touchdown performance against the Packers in 2018, and he had 76 more yards and a touchdown in last year’s meeting at Lambeau Field.

Still, this is a surprising move by the Lions.

After all, they just used a second-round pick on running back D’Andre Swift, who is set for a big role in the Lions offense. They also have Kerryon Johnson, who was a second-round pick by the Lions only two years ago.

In many ways, the Packers might prefer to face a running-back-by-committee when they meet the Lions in Week 2, rather than one of Swift or Johnson putting in a strong performance with 15-plus carries.

No matter who Detroit’s starting running back is in a couple of weeks, Green Bay’s run defense will need to be much improved from what we saw last year. The defense will be relying on improvements from within as the defensive line remains almost exactly the same as a year ago.

Peterson’s role with the Lions offense remains to be seen. But even at 35 years old, he’s shown he can still hurt the Packers defense.