"At least this one wasn't so painful. A little more than seven months after losing a heartbreaker in overtime in the NFC Championship Game, the Vikings returned to the Superdome on Thursday night for the NFL's regular-season opener. They left with another defeat, falling 14-9 to the Saints before an announced and raucous crowd of 70,051 that began celebrating early as the Saints unfurled their championship banner. The hype for the nationally televised game began almost as soon as the schedule was released in April. That meant there was almost no way the game could live to its billing, and sure enough, that was the case. "They beat us fair and square last year and the same thing tonight," Vikings quarterback Brett Favre said. "I'm sure everyone who watched this ballgame would say that it wasn't the fireworks that everyone thought it was going to be -- for either team. I think for us it's obvious that we can get a lot better. But there's a lot of potential there." A year ago the Vikings lived up to their potential by starting the season 6-0 en route to a second consecutive NFC North title. But that was with a favorable schedule that had them open against woeful teams in Cleveland and Detroit. Favre, who joined the Vikings in late August, was able to manage the team to victories before finding his rhythm in Week 3 against San Francisco. Favre repeated the same exercise this summer, joining the Vikings after they had broken camp in Mankato. He again wasn't at his sharpest Thursday, but playing against the world champions, and not the Browns, meant this time he paid the price. "There were three or four throws I just missed," said Favre, who finished 15-for-27 for 171 yards with a touchdown, an interception and a 71.7 passer rating. "I have no excuse. I threw one behind Greg Lewis. There were a couple of reads I should have made differently. If I do that, it's a different ballgame."" http://www.startribune.com/sports/vikings/102577909.html?elr=KArksi8cyaiU9PmP:QiUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUU
