So what did everyone think of the Vikings in their season opener? They actually played better than I thought they would. Even with the injuries in the secondary, their defense still looks extremely tough. It was weird watching them give up so much rushing yardage down the stretch, though. I don't know what to make of that. Is Pat Williams getting too old?

On offense, they really, really missed Sidney Rice. I've been saying this for a couple years now: They can hand off to Peterson all day long and he can gain lots of yards, but that's not going to get it done against the better teams. Peterson dominated the first half, and they only had three points to show for it until they put up that TD in the two-minute drill.

As for Favre, last year they opened against Cleveland and he could afford to hand the ball to Peterson and play a little sandlot. You need to bring more than that against the Saints. He still made some great throws, though. If he gets settled in and stays healthy, he could have another good season.

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It seemed like brent was out of sync with recievers. I now understand about how he and A.P. didn't need no stinkin camp. A.P. was pretty useless after the Saints defense stopped going after the ball and concentraited on just stopping him. Mister Burns cried and cried about this call and that call that the refs missed after the game. Too bad they had the wambulance tied up for a finger injury. GLAD I DIDN'T TAKE THE OVER!!!

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The New Orleans defense did an excellent job of adjusting after halftime. Take away Favre's favorite target du jour and he seems to lose all confidence, as we saw in the second half when he started out 0 for 7. Favre also made a point of maintaining an expression of something bordering on sheer agony the entire game (except for the touchdown pass), just so we would all be sure to remember that he isn't fully healthy. It's an expression I'm sure we'll be seeing multiple times this season. What really puzzled me, though, was the expression of depression, almost sadness, that he seemed to wear most of the game. He didn't seem to be deriving much joy from playing.

The Vikings' offensive line impressed me. Favre had all day to throw back there. If the line can maintain that kind of protection throughout the season, Favre should emerge relatively unscathed. The Saints did land some hard hits on him, but nowhere near the frequency of the championship game.

After being gashed on the first series, the Vikings' defense seemed resilient the rest of the game. They locked down the deep routes, forcing Brees to dump it off short almost every time. Even when he got off deep passes, Brees didn't seem very accurate; I think he was throwing off balance. The Vikings; much-vaunted run defense seemed to crumble in the second half, though, as Pierre Thomas had a field day.

It's safe to say neither offense looked as explosive as I was expecting. I definitely didn't think we'd be seeing a 23-point game; I was projecting something closer to a 40-point game. Overall, the game was entertaining, though it did have its stretches of being a yawner. I had fun watching it. After all, the Vikings lost.

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Something else that surprised me was that this game was not the Favrefellation fest I was expecting. Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth did focus overmuch on the quarterbacks, as commentators are wont to do, but all things considered it was a balanced presentation relatively free of hyperbole. This pleased me immensely. Maybe the commentating team (Collinsworth in particular) was subtly dissing Favre, maybe they were instructed to be a little more objective, or maybe (as I hope) Favre's sun is gradually setting. Maybe we're starting to see the beginning of an era in which his name isn't the first word that pops into commentators' mouths the moment they start groping for words.

One can dream, right?

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I didn't see anything to be afraid from the Vikings other than Adrian Peterson. And it seems Brad will keep him in check, per normal.

Favre made some fantastic throws, but nothing over the top special that I don't think Tavaris couldn't have made.

Their defense was nothing special either. I seen big holes for passing and while rushing. It seems the Saints got sort of cocky instead of keeping the gas on.

Being the first game, I think we'll see a different Vikings team, for good or worse when we meet October 24th.

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...plus the Vikings will probably go out and try and buy solutions to whatever troubles/holes were identified from that game. I'll bet they go get some more WR's and CB's.

I saw problems with BOTH teams. I'm glad the Vikes lost.

I hope we take advantage by beating Philly. All hype completely aside, it is so very far from a sure thing.

Focus on putting points on the board, let Peterson rack up his meaningless yards (it's not too hard to keep him out of the end zone, since Childress rarely seems to use him in goal-line situations), and focus on stopping the Vikings' quarterback. The moment he feels like he's playing from behind, Childress seems to lose his head and abandon Peterson. This strategy has worked in the past, and it will work in the future. I was saying this last season too, but Capers doesn't care what I have to say. ;)

The problem for teams last season -- and in my opinion, the reason why the Vikings' record was as good as it was -- is that most defensive coordinators were giving Favre entirely too much credit. They focused on shutting down Peterson, so Favre had a field day back there. Gregg Williams wasn't intimidated by the mystique of His Favreness -- he went after him with a vengeance. And it worked. Even though the Vikings dominated the Saints statistically, the Saints still won.

The Packers can beat the Vikings this year. If they watch film from last season and learn from their mistakes, they can -- and should -- sweep the Vikings. If they do that, homefield advantage throughout the playoffs is certainly not out of the question.

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Really? It was like listening to Saints Radio Coverage. I had to slap myself a couple of times to make sure I wasn't dreaming and I was actually watching a national network covered game on NBC. It was pathetic. I used to actually like the Saints and was rooting for them last year but now I am just annoyed. Its not even their fault, I like almost everyone on that team but I can't stand the media coverage.

Some of the random praising was nuts. Check it out Shawn Peyton and Drew Brees are the third highest Coach-QB offense rank - what does that even mean. Check it out Vilma checked out of X number of plays last year in the Super Bowl. Check it out Shawn Peyton sleeping with the Super Bowl trophy - classic shot!. Check it out Drew Brees threw to this many receivers last year. How many times can you mention that Drew Brees almost signed with Miami?! Look - lets show you the Super Bowl parade and what it did for this city for the 1,000 time! OMG, look at their LT!

I'm sick of them, I know what that city has been through but its not charity, its the NFL. I don't want to watch football to be depressed. I don't need the 1,000,000 shots of Katrina's aftermath. I'm sick of it, people in New Oreleans should be sick of it too of being constantly talked about only in relation to Katrina.

It was honestly the worst coverage I've ever seen for a game. I was cheering for the Saints because I like Brees and the Vikings being a divisional opponent but the end of the game, I HATE the Saints. I hope to never watch another Saints nationally covered game again - please don't make the playoffs if there is a God.

Rant Over... (Beyond hating on hurricane destroyed cities, I also hate babies, small dogs and like to drop kick old ladies in the chest)...

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After watching last night, I realized this Vikings D is very strange. It seems like they never get interceptions or turnovers. So I looked up last years stats and I also remember seeing an article online for this issue but I cannot find it now. Check this:

Last year, the Vikings only had 11 INTs, 26th in the League. They had ZERO Ints returned for TDs and the Defense only had ONE (a Fumble Recover for TD).

But the Vikings had 49 Sacks, 1st in the League.

This is huge for us. That offense looks horrible right now (although they looked pretty bad last year @ Cleveland too) but it doesn't look like their D will provide any help.

Last night Asher Allen I think it was, dropped a pass Drew Brees threw straight to him.

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I watched the game feed online through NBC.com and I muted it whenever there wasn't direct game coverage, so maybe I missed a lot of what you saw. Still, whatever drooling they did was mild compared to the Favre heyday.

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