The 0-1 New England Patriots come to town to face our 1-0 Minnesota Vikings. The excitement of the season opening 34-6 win over the St. Louis Rams has finally died down enough that hotel and flight reservations to Glendale, Arizona (site of this year's Super Bowl) have finally slowed from the Twin Cities.

The Vikings enter the game without their star player, running back Adrian Peterson, who was deactivated earlier in the week. Normally this would be enough to have optimistic fans cashing in their hopes for a win. Tom Brady, Rob Gronkowski, and Shane Vereen lead a Patriots team that is one of the better offensive units in the NFL. Definitely better than a Rams' offense without Sam Bradford. After losing their opener, the Patriots come to town eager to even their record at 1-1.

Luckily, many have already donned their 'purple shaded homer glasses'. As a proud wearer, I am convinced Minnesota can win without Peterson,. The fact that both Xavier Rhodes and Sharrif Floyd were injured late in the season opener, and have been limited in practice, escapes purple vision. My shades can only see the improving defense handling the pass-happy Pats. Everson Griffen opened the year with two sacks. Harrison Smith recorded his third interception-return for a touchdown. The front seven limited St. Louis to 72 yards on the ground. Minnesota's new aggressive play forced 13 penalties for over 120 yards. The Vikings were a plus three in turnovers.

Purple Shades are in my brain.

Minnesota is tied for the NFC North division lead with the Detroit Lions. Their leading rusher is going to play a big part in game two. No, not AP, but Cordarrelle Patterson. Coming of his 100-yard plus opening performance, which included a dazzling touchdown run in which he broke four tackles, Patterson is among the league leaders in rushing and overall yardage. And he only touched the ball six times on offense in week one.

Matt Cassel completed 68% of his passes, continuing his solid performance from the preseason. Greg Jennings caught six passes and scored a pretty touchdown in the back of the end zone last week. Meanwhile, Matt Asiata looks to duplicate his performances late in the 2013 season when he took over for an injured Peterson. Asiata averaged near four yards a carry in those two games, with three touchdowns. In addition, fans eagerly await the increased use of the uber-athletic Jerick McKinnon, drafted to replace Toby Gerhart at back-up running back.

The purple future is still bright.

Mike Zimmer and his staff have changed the culture on this team and their community in a short time. Zimmer is undefeated as a head coach, albeit only 1-0. Norv Turner has players excited to play offense. Tight end Kyle Rudolph could benefit the most from the new offense. Rudolph had only two catches for sixteen yards in week one, though one catch was a red-zone touchdown. The preseason appetizer of Turner's offense demonstrated an increased role for the Vikings' young tight end.

You should really try these glasses.

It seems illogical that a team can go from the abyss of the 2013 Vikings' defense to one that can stop Tom Brady and his 56 pass attempt attack. It seems doubtful to most that Minnesota can shrug off the loss of what many consider the best player in football. A 5-10-1 team which could stop no one, turned the ball over religiously, and survived offensively on the skills of a single running back for many years.

But not to we wearers of the purple shades. We see Minnesota moving to 2-0 on Sunday.

Skol.