"Cole," the Vikings running back said on a conference call the other day, referring to defensive end Trent Cole . "He's a beast, man. You see what he does coming off the edge. He makes a lot of plays. He's a guy who goes 100 miles an hour on every play. That's a guy you definitely have to account for."

Brian Dawkins is another, Peterson added. "With Dawkins," he said, "not only does he lay the wood on you coming north and south, he's also a ball searcher. He's coming in and trying to create turnovers."

Cole and Dawkins will be among several Eagles defenders keying on Peterson in the their wild-card game Sunday against Minnesota. Peterson leads the NFL with 1,760 yards and is widely regarded as the best running back in the game.

In their 23-16 win over the Vikings last season, the Eagles limited Peterson to 70 yards on 20 carries. But Peterson said he had improved in the year since his rookie season.

"I would say I'm definitely a better player," he said. "We're more comfortable as a team as far as being in a groove. A lot of guys last year were just getting comfortable with each other, and there were a lot of things we did last year that kind of hurt ourselves. They do have a real nice defense, I must say, but watching the film we did a lot of things to hurt ourselves."

Tough job A week after preventing the NFL's sack leader from sacking Donovan McNabb , Eagles offensive tackle Tra Thomas will have another difficult task dealing with the Vikings' Jared Allen .

Allen has 141/2 sacks. That's not as many as the 20 the Cowboys' DeMarcus Ware took into last weekend's game against the Eagles, but Allen is capable of creating as much havoc.

"They are different," Eagles offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg said yesterday. "Ware pops out at you on film right away. Allen, once you see two or three games with him, you say, 'Man, is this guy productive.' He's got a huge motor. He's deceptive with a couple of his moves and is very good with the snap count."

Allen has 52 quarterback hurries and forced three fumbles.

Thomas, who declined to comment yesterday, "did a heck of a job last week, and he's done a real good job all year, especially in pass protection," Mornhinweg said.

The Eagles blockers held opponents to 23 sacks during the regular season, second fewest in club history.

Injury report Offensive tackle Jon Runyan (knee) sat out yesterday's practice but is likely to play Sunday. Tight end L.J. Smith (shoulder), cornerback Asante Samuel (hip), and running back Brian Westbrook (knee, ankle) were limited at practice.

Here and there Andy Reid was named Motorola NFL coach of the week . . . Chris Childress , the youngest son of Vikings coach Brad Childress and a student at La Salle University, will assist Eagles video director Mike Dougherty during Sunday's game.

- Ray Parrillo