No matter where or how he got the ball Sunday, Adrian Peterson seemed to find the opening in the Chicago Bears‘ defense.

Through the line, around the end, across the field with a split-second cutback and even on kickoff returns, he made the Bears miss.

Peterson’s record-setting performance put the Minnesota Vikings in position for victory, one they secured Sunday when Ryan Longwell kicked a career-long 55-yard field goal on the final play to beat the Bears 34-31.

“I just got comfortable, more comfortable with the speed of the game,” Peterson said after showcasing the talent that made him the first running back taken in this year’s draft.

“I knew anything was possible.”

With a blend of power and speed, the rookie from Oklahoma finished with 224 rushing yards on 20 carries and scored on runs of 67, 73 and 35 yards. He broke Chuck Foreman’s club-record of 200 yards rushing set against the Eagles in 1976, and gained the most yards against the Bears in their 88-year history.

“We stunk. We played horrible,” Bears defensive end Alex Brown said. “He’s a good player, but … he shouldn’t get that many yards.”

Peterson set up Longwell’s game-winner by returning a kickoff 53 yards. His afternoon at Soldier Field overshadowed a great one from the Bears’ Devin Hester, who returned a punt 89 yards for a score and caught a game-tying 81-yard TD pass from Brian Griese with 1:38 left.

“It’s kind of crazy,” Peterson said. “Guys come up to me and they say, `When you got the ball it’s kind of like holding your breath.’ I experience that when that guy (Hester) is on the field. I’m holding my breath knowing he can take it to the house any time he touches the ball.”

After the Griese-to-Hester connection tied it up, Peterson returned the ensuing kickoff to the Bears 38.

Why did the Bears kick to Peterson after he’d run all over the field?

“Of course, he’s a big threat. They only needed a field goal,” Bears coach Lovie Smith said. “We haven’t gone into many games where we don’t kick the ball to the player. We thought we would get good field position, and go from there.”