St. Louis -

Wrote my column on Mike Zimmer's debut. Here are a few other observations after full review of the stat sheets and highlights:

-Key stat of the game: One sack. The Vikings' offensive line didn't play all that well last year, and had rocky moments in the preseason, and was facing the strength of the Rams. The line allowed just one sack, and allowed Cassel to complete 17 of his 25 passes.

-Cassel completed 17 passes, yet hit seven different receivers. There will always be someone open in Norv Turner's offense, and Cassel is calm enough to find checkdowns.

-Peterson had 21 carries, and caught two of the three passes thrown toward him. I wouldn't be surprised if that's a median usage for him.

-I thought Turner was cautious when given poor field position but showed his creativity in the red zone. Both of Cassel's touchdown passes came after inside fakes to Adrian Peterson, freezing the middle of the defense.

-The Vikings are currently alone in first place in the NFC North, with Detroit playing on Monday night.

-This is the first Vikings game I've covered in a long, long time when I didn't come away baffled by either the usage of a key player, a play call, or a coach's explanation of the former or latter.

-Next week provides a completely different challenge. Where the Rams wanted to turn the game into a slugfest, New England will spread the Vikings out on offense, hoping to throw underneath to wideouts like Julian Edelman and find Rob Gronkowski deep down the middle. Watching Zimmer and Turner match wits with Bill Belichick will be quite entertaining.

-Personal note: Got to see The Jayhawks, the great band with Minneapolis roots, on Thursday at the Turf Club, and Saturday night at First Avenue via @Yahoolive. A great band that has never sounded better. Best wishes to Marc Perlman and Gary Louris - please keep this thing going.

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I'll be on 1500ESPN-AM sometime tomorrow morning with Mackey&Judd.