Mark Craig's Five Extra Points

1. Joseph enjoys solid debut

Nose tackle Linval Joseph's conditioning was fine. Actually, as he said, "It was great. Started the game, finished the game, won the game."

Joseph, who missed the final three weeks of the preseason after being shot in the calf as an innocent bystander at a nightclub, sat out two of the Rams' 12 possessions, giving way to rookie Shamar Stephen. "Just our rotation, just like I was going to do if I had been here or not," Joseph said. "My conditioning is fine and, man, I'm just glad to be here." Joseph had five tackles and a sack that came when he read his keys perfectly. "I knew this one play was coming," Joseph said. "I shot my pistol and got the sack."

Probably not the best analogy, but a heck of a play.

2. Good luck finding Barr

We set out to track where rookie outside linebacker Anthony Barr lined up on every snap. At different points, it got tough to find him as he and others lined up where one wouldn't expect them. Barr rushed from both end positions, came off the edge on both sides, dropped into coverage and also lined up in an 'A gap' blitz between the center and guard.

"It's so much different than what we've been doing around here for a long time," linebacker Chad Greenway said. "But once we get lined up, we play fast." Early in the game, the Vikings lined up with 10 men at the line of scrimmage on third-and-15. The Rams were so puzzled, they false-started. "When coach calls that look, it gives us a chance to mix it up," said safety Harrison Smith, who had a sack and an 81-yard interception return for a TD. "It puts them on their toes instead of them dictating to us. In this defense, you get to do a lot. You get to blitz, you get to play deep, you get to play all over the place, really. It's a lot of fun as a football player."

The Vikings drew 10 penalty flags. Seven for 60 yards were accepted. Gerald Hodges held on the opening kickoff, and one first-half three-and-out contained three penalties. But it didn't matter because the Rams had 13 penalties for 121 yards. The Vikings special teams were flagged twice, while the offense had four penalties and the defense just one that was accepted.

Left tackle Matt Kalil led the way with two false starts. Cornerback Captain Munnerlyn had the only personal foul for a borderline late hit out of bounds. "Fortunately, the penalties didn't cost us," running back Adrian Peterson said. "But I'm sure coach [Mike Zimmer] will point them out."

4. Cassel's comfort: Jennings

It wasn't Favre-like, for sure, but Matt Cassel was efficient [113.8 passer rating], decisive [one sack] and didn't turn the ball over. The Vikings converted only three of 11 third downs, which will have to improve. But Cassel did make a couple of solid throws for 18 and 11 yards to convert two third downs in the first half. Both went to Greg Jennings, including an 18-yarder that turned the Vikings' first possession into a 3-0 lead. Jennings also caught one of Cassel's two touchdown passes. "I have a lot of trust in Greg and I know that he's always going to be in the right spot," Cassel said. "They were giving us opportunities to get the ball to him in one-on-one opportunities."

5. Peterson a red-zone ... receiver?