The St. Louis Rams offered a theory as to how they would remain competitive without quarterback Sam Bradford: They would use a big, mobile front to key an extra-physical defense, and they would get quarterback Shaun Hill in favorable yardage situations with a strong running game.

Sorry about that, Jeff Fisher.

The most-impressive aspect of Mike Zimmer's first regular-season game as the Vikings head coach was the manner in which his team outmuscled in every area an opponent that was bragging about its muscle.

And to have the Purple do this on the road – after a season in which it was 0-7-1 on the road – had to double the pleasure for the Minnesota TV audience.

The Vikings were leading 34-3 at the two-minute warning and that was more than a rout. It was an accurate reflection of the difference in talent, toughness and brainpower of the two teams.

As they wilted inside the Dome, the Rams became dumber and dumber. As the Vikings rose up, they became sharper and sharper.

We heard more in training camp and exhibitions about the creativity that crusty old coordinator Norv Turner would bring to the offense, but more eye-catching on Sunday was the creativity that the crusty old defensive whiz, Zimmer, brought to that side of the operation.

Right away, there was safety Harrison Smith coming off the far left edge to flummox the Rams, force and punt and leave Hill to mumble, "I wish they still were playing those two deep safeties that we saw on tape from last year.''

Later, Smith would get a sack on the futile backup, Austin Davis, and later still, he would sit back for an interception and then go 81 yards for the Vikings' final points.

Fisher's decision to kick a field goal with 1 ½ minutes left, to make it 34-6, might have been the finest display of foolish pride since Bud Grant's second game as the Vikings coach in 1967.

Bud had Fred Cox kick a field goal in the fourth quarter with his team trailing 32-0, and admitted that the reason was that he didn't want the L.A. Rams to enjoy a shutout. This led to the Rams adding on a touchdown to make it 39-3.

Who knows what Fisher had in mind? Maybe he's a believer in Tim Brewster's "we scored last'' theory.

The Vikings' blowout in St. Louis came with this bonus:

The Packers came out of Thursday's opener in Seattle overwhelmed and injured. The Bears managed to lose a home opener on Sunday against Buffalo … yup, Buffalo. The Lions have to wait until Monday night to start disappointing their fans for a 57th consecutive season.

All of this definitely made Zimmer's Vikings the kings of the NFC North for a day. And it could be longer, because that's a mighty fine football formula – talented, tough and smart – when maintained.