Slowing the surge

• By SHELDON MICKLES
• Advocate sportswriter
• Published: Oct 6, 2008 - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

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After being gashed for 146 and 149 rushing yards in the first two games, it looked like the New Orleans Saints’ run defense was going to be in for a long season.

But there’s been a noticeable difference in the last two weeks.

The Saints held the Denver Broncos to 105 yards on 24 carries, then didn’t allow San Francisco 49ers’ Pro Bowl running back Frank Gore to get loose in limiting the Niners to 91 yards a week ago. Gore had 82 yards and a long gain of just 11 yards.

While the 2-2 Saints have been encouraged by the results of the last two weeks, the real test comes tonight when they face the 1-3 Minnesota Vikings and Adrian Peterson, the NFL’s best young running back, in the Superdome at 7:30 p.m. (ESPN and WJBO-AM, 1150).

Peterson, the seventh pick of the 2007 draft, galloped for 1,341 yards and 12 touchdowns as a rookie. This season, he ranks second in the league with 420 yards — just two yards off the lead going into Week 5 — and is averaging a healthy 5.1 yards per attempt with three TDs.

To Saints strongside linebacker Scott Fujita, the elusive 6-foot-1, 217-pound Peterson presents more problems than most NFL running backs.

“The first part of the equation is lining up correctly in the gaps and maintaining good gap integrity throughout the play,” said Fujita, the Saints’ leading tackler a year ago. “That’s a big part of it. The second part of it is actually bringing him to the ground.”

“He’s big, fast and powerful,” Fujita said. “He’s very physical, so the key is to get as many guys to the ball and make sure we get him down. If you don’t wrap him up and get some other guys to clean up, he’ll run right through the tackles.”

While holding the compactly-built Gore somewhat in check was a giant boost for the Saints’ confidence, there’s a big difference between him, even though he’s a Pro Bowler and a two-time 1,000-yard rusher, and Peterson.

“Peterson is bigger than Gore, and even though Gore is a great back, Peterson’s one of the faster top-end speed backs in the league,” said Fujita. “That’s the most impressive thing that sticks out when you watch the film.”

Combine that speed with his size and elusiveness, and it makes Peterson a dangerous foe inside or outside, defensive end Charles Grant said.

“You have to contain him, stay in your gaps and contain him,” he said. “You have to make sure he doesn’t hit the edges. If you let him get out there, he’s going to take it the distance down the sidelines 80 yards.”