The Mike Zimmer Era started in fine fashion as the Vikings hammered a woeful St. Louis Rams team 34-6.
Lots of positive signs for the Vikings in the opener, including the game plan by this new coaching staff.
Zimmer's defense created pressure and got big plays from the secondary in keeping the Rams out of the end zone. The Vikings got five sacks and forced two turnovers.
Maligned cornerback Josh Robinson made a terrific interception in the first half and safety Harrison Smith returned an interception for a touchdown late in the game.
I liked the way Zimmer used Smith, bringing him on blitzes and moving him around to maximize his play-making ability. Smith blitzed at least three times off the edge. He forced a quick throw on the first series and later collected a sack.
Here is my column on Smith from training camp in which he talked about being a playmaker in this defense.
Offensively, the Vikings took a while to get going and had too many penalties early. But Norv Turner showed a glimpse of how he intends to use Cordarrelle Patterson as a versatile playmaker.
Turner used Patterson on Jet sweeps, at receiver and lined him up in the backfield as a running back. Patterson had the play of the game for the offense on his long touchdown run.
