Losing to the Super Bowl champions at their home opener is not worrisome. The 14-9 loss showed that Minnesota's defense is for real. We easily rationalized the lack of offense as Brett Favre's rust being removed. The missing receivers, the injured cornerback, the excuses were greater than the effort needed to defend the loss.

And then week two arrived.

Miami was credited with the 14-10 win. But I think it is better stated a 14-10 loss for Minnesota. The Vikings visited the red zone so many times it began to look purple. On the opening drive Minnesota decided to go for it on fourth and two from easy field goal range. They did not get it. Sitting in the stands I could not help but think that was a mistake. I thought the old adage used in the NFL was "always take sure points on first drives" or some other made up saying that meant "don't be stupid". We were. Later, interceptions would thwart other attempts in the purple zone. Adrian Peterson would be stopped on a goal line stand late in the game.

The crowd sensed it from the beginning.

My first inkling that something was amiss came when I sat down and heard some twelve year-old Dolphins fan making fun of the Vikings' cheerleaders. Taunting the cheerleaders? And no one stopped him. I sat biting my tongue as this little punk was pointing out every mistake Minnesota made. "The old man's arm is tired" he said dribbling ice cream onto his aqua blue uniform as he stood and cheered a pick. "You have no wide receivers!" he screamed as defensive backs for Miami blanketed Bernard Berrian, Camarillo, and Percy Harvin, forcing another fourth down. His shrill, not yet matured voice pierced everyone's eardrums around him. All I could think was how did I end up with tickets near the future second Gilbert Gottfried?

I have never had cause to strike a child, but I was close. And the worst part about the obnoxious little mouth that never quit was that he was right. Favre struggled. Receivers failed. Considering that one of Miami's touchdowns was solely because of the offense (the fumble in the end zone), Minnesota once again shut down their opponent for the most part defensively. The offense did not struggle as much as last week, and Adrian Peterson looked like the 2008 model all day. They just turned it over. A lot. And they missed a couple of fourth down conversions. If Minnesota gets a field goal in each purple zone visit, they win by ten or so.

Yes, we lost. We are 0-2 and in trouble in the NFC North with both the Bears and Packers being 2-0. Time waits for no one in the NFL, and two losses early in the season forces a team to get better soon. The fact that the Detroit Lions are next is little comfort. Tougher games are ahead. Anyone can see the talent is there. But the season has started and good teams have to get wins. Ask the Dallas Cowboys. Like the Vikings, 'America's Team' finds itself in a hole amid speculation that they are not as good as advertised. And as a neutral observer I would say not even close.

I will have to research teams that turned around 0-2 seasons. From memory I cannot recall to many Vikings' teams that lost a few in a row to start, then did something. There has to be a few, right?