1) If the Vikings wanted a diversion from the "distraction" of Adrian Peterson, it arrived Sunday when Matt Cassel was carted off the field with a toe injury. In came rookie QB Teddy Bridgewater, and suddenly a juicy on-field story had emerged.

How did the rookie fare in the Vikings' 20-9 loss to the Saints? Well, it was a mixed bag. The raw numbers — 12 for 20, 150 yards, no turnovers — were quite nice, particularly for a debut. Bridgewater usually looked composed, particularly in the face of some heavy rushes. On the other hand, this is a touchdown league and call Bridgewater could produce in roughly three quarters of football were a pair of field goals.

Maybe some of that falls on offensive coordinator Norv Turner, who looked a little conservative (again) Sunday. We get that Peterson isn't around to carry the ball and take on the focus of a defense, but Cordarrelle Patterson and co. could still be used in more dynamic ways.

We'd say some of it falls on Bridgewater, too, though. He had the chance to make some plays and missed. It was a promising beginning for a rookie QB, but also an uneven one.

2) The biggest stat of the day came on the Saints' third-down conversion rate. The Vikings under Mike Zimmer had been quite good in that category in the first two weeks of the season, allowing opposing offenses to convert just 9 of 28 third downs into first downs — in line with what Zimmer had consistently accomplished as D coordinator with the Bengals.

That all fell apart Sunday, though, as the Saints converted 9 of 13 third downs into first downs. That detracted from what was, at times, an impressive defensive effort (particularly after a terrible start).

The NFL is built on three things right now: turnovers (neither team had any), converting on third down (the Saints trumped the Vikings on Sunday) and cashing in scoring chances for TDs instead of FGs (the Saints had three TDs, the Vikings had three FGs on Sunday).

3) Speaking of third down, though, the Vikings should have been off the field on a critical third down in the second half. With New Orleans up 13-9 and facing third and long, Captain Munnerlyn blitzed off the corner, wrapped up Drew Brees and threw him to the ground. Apparently he did this with too much gusto for the refs because it earned him a flag — a penalty that was complete garbage and could be looked at as a turning point. Instead of punting, the Saints used turned the gift into a scoring drive that proved to be the game's final TD.

We understand the need to protect quarterbacks in an increasingly violent game, but here's the thing: if Munnerlyn eases up there, Brees might escape and complete a pass. What is a defensive player supposed to do? Quarterbacks are stronger and more elusive than ever. Munnerlyn is doing anything he can to bring down a bigger player (yes, even Brees is bigger than the Captain).

Munnerlyn said postgame that he felt he let his teammates down. That's the right thing to say, but the truth is the game let the Vikings down. The league wants to have it both ways. And in doing so, the Vikings were cheated out of a big third down stop.