The positives

[PurpleMustReign]

I am going to go against the grain of the Message Board and talk about some of the positives. Mods, please, if this thread gets derailed, either close it or delete the offending posts.

Jeff Locke. Great game. So far, he is better than Kluwe ever was. His punts landed inside the 10, but not in the endzone. I love it!!

Bobby Felder. He looks good returning Punts. I would like to see how he does as the main punt returner.

MBT. Making the most out of his opportunities. Good for him!! His fade TD was a pretty pass.

[Funkytown]

I thought this thread was going to be blank. Just playing.

Punting unit looks good. Special teams overall is pretty decent. Our ST coach seems passionate and fiery, too. That's good.

Burton continues to show he deserves to be on the team. Webb too...maybe?

The defense started okay, despite the offense not helping them at all!

Felder had some decent plays, especially compared to what I remember from last week.

The guys seemed to be engaged over on the sideline, even towards the end. They never gave up, which was a tough task in itself.

Most importantly, we stayed pretty healthy. Wright's concussion sucks, but he'll be okay.

We did okay in the penalties department too, considering there was a lot of yellow out there tonight.

Overall though, we need a lot of work. We'll get 'em next week.

[Demi]

Bobby Felder's hair.

Woooow! I hope the dirty NFL doesn't make a rule about that. I loved the hair everywhere.

[Funkytown]

Bobby Felder's hair.

Woooow! I hope the dirty NFL doesn't make a rule about that. I loved the hair everywhere.

His hair is very nice.

[PurpleHalo]

I thought it started at 7, was 6 locally so I missed first quarter. How did Jennings and Ponder look together?

[mondry]

Heck yeah, the starters won 3-0 and dominated today, especially the defense and punter!

[Mothman]

I haven't seen the game yet but I heard the first half. The first positive that springs to mind is Sanford's INT. Forcing turnovers is an area where the defense needs to improve this season so an INT for the first team defense is encouraging.

As Melanie said, coming out of the game relatively healthy is always good news.

[Vette3434]

Positives....
We identified several areas of focus that I'm sure we'll be working on to improve.
Ponder got a healthy bit of action under duress.
First team defense looked strong.
As already mentioned we saw more about our WR depth to make decisions on.
Learned more about defensive depth.
If we can take our lumps in the preseason and WAKE UP now... That's the time for it.
Hopefully the coaching staff all realize that we need to come better prepared. If we get that out of this game then that will be the biggest positive of all.

[VikeMike]

Doesn't sound like the Vikings worried about game planning against the Bills at all.
I was only able to catch whatever parts of the game NFL Network jumped to, and I missed the first quarter.

I'll tell you what, the athleticism that Cordelle Patterson displays is going to be a major positive. They might have to bring him along a little slower than some would like as he learns the offense. But this guy has the size, speed and body control that could make him into a very legit WR, hopefully in a relatively short time.

Another positive: Walsh got the 49-yard miss out of the way in the preseason.

[Mothman]

Doesn't sound like the Vikings worried about game planning against the Bills at all.

There's rarely much, if any, opponent-specific preparation for the first few preseason games so that's probably accurate.

I'll tell you what, the athleticism that Cordelle Patterson displays is going to be a major positive. They might have to bring him along a little slower than some would like as he learns the offense. But this guy has the size, speed and body control that could make him into a very legit WR, hopefully in a relatively short time.

I hope so but even if it takes a while for him to become a legit starter, I suspect he's going to make more than a few big plays along the way.

[J. Kapp 11]

I haven't seen the game yet but I heard the first half. The first positive that springs to mind is Sanford's INT. Forcing turnovers is an area where the defense needs to improve this season so an INT for the first team defense is encouraging.

As Melanie said, coming out of the game relatively healthy is always good news.

Sanford got the INT, but Xavier Rhodes made the play. NFL.com highlights show it clearly. He was in press coverage and manhandled the receiver. Got inside position, got his hands on the ball, knocked it in the air, and Sanford picked up the loose change.

[tnvikesfan]

Haven't seen anything yet - worked last night, but hey ya gotta make a living.

When we looked the other evening, NFL Network will televise the game Sunday morning at 9 am central.

We'll be watching.

[Mothman]

Sanford got the INT, but Xavier Rhodes made the play. NFL.com highlights show it clearly. He was in press coverage and manhandled the receiver. Got inside position, got his hands on the ball, knocked it in the air, and Sanford picked up the loose change.

That's pretty much the way PA described it on the radio broadcast too. Hopefully, Rhodes will be making plays like that all season.

[CbusVikesFan]

Locke
Walsh-solid after the miss.
starting defense
Banyard
Rhodes/Sanford
Chris Summers
Adrian Peterson- so good.....
not necessarily in that order but some of my positives.

[Eli]

and I believe that they kept their 1's in through the first half.

The ones played about 5 minutes into the 2nd quarter.