Welcome to another season of the Vikings Meltdown, whereby our goal is to give quick reaction after the purple play.

We find ourselves in an awkward place after a 34-6 Vikings beatdown of the Rams. Usually after a season opener, we are lamenting missed opportunities, trying to convince ourselves of silver linings and generally feeling sour.

In the case of this Sunday, though, we find ourselves having to manage expectations. Outside of some early sloppiness on offense (penalties, botched snaps, etc.), there isn't much to complain about. Let's get to it:

1) Zimmer's debut: Vikings coach Mike Zimmer had the great fortune of making his head coaching debut against a team already down to its second-choice QB that was forced to use its third choice for half the game. But even with a healthy QB, this Rams team lacks explosiveness. It was going to be a game, at worst, that Zimmer could manage, keep close and scheme.

The QB mess for the Rams made it even more so, and the Vikings' game plan was sound: conservative on offense at first, multiple looks on defense with controlled aggressiveness and plenty of chances for Cordarrelle Patterson and Adrian Peterson to get touches as the game went on. The most impressive thing was the way the Vikings slowly pulled away. A year ago, a 13-0 halftime lead was a recipe for disaster. This year, the Vikings kept the pedal down and didn't look back. It's only one game, but it's a refreshing change in attitude and results.

2) Speaking of refreshing, the Rams were 4-for-14 (28.6 percent) on third down conversions. The Vikings were awful in that department last year, and generally bad in that area under Leslie Frazier's outdated defense. Sure, the Vikings' personnel was bad … but it so often felt like they were waiting back and letting teams dictate the third-down action. At its worst, it looked like the defense was on a walk-through and the opposing offense was practicing pitch-and-catch execution.

That is not what things looked like Sunday. The Vikings blitzed smartly, including a safety blitz from Harrison Smith that resulted in a sack that helped get them off the field. They rushed four and looked competent in coverage. As a result, they got the stops that are so critical today's game — the stops Zimmer's D in Cincy got a year ago, when they were No. 2 in the NFL on third down.

3) The defense, in general, resembled nothing we recognized from years past — and that's a big compliment. Josh Robinson was more than useful; he made a magnificent interception. A healthy Harrison Smith makes a huge difference (as his game-clinching pick-six helped emphasize), but it seemed like the greater strides were made not in personnel but in scheme and attitude.

Again, it's a bland Rams offense that was further decimated by QB injuries. The Vikings will play five quarterbacks in the next five weeks (Brady, Brees, Ryan, Rodgers and Stafford) who will give them a real test.

But there is enough be encouraged by from Sunday's performance to think the Vikings can at least compete in those games. And even if you don't think that, it is nice to just enjoy a season-opening victory for what it is.