The Vikings registered five sacks and nine hurries of Browns QB Brady Quinn during Minnesota’s 34-20 loss win.
Vikings coach Brad Childress says he thought the failed game-opening onside kick was a “slam dunk.” (And, sometimes, slam dunks clank off the back of the rim.)
Vikings QB Brett Favre completed passes to seven different receivers, but none for more than 21 yards.
Rookie WR Percy Harvin thought that Favre would celebrate their touchdown connection by bumping chests; instead, Favre tackled him. (Hey, at least it wasn’t a chop block.)
From the “How was the play, Mrs. Lincoln?” file, the Vikings special teams did a good job -- except when Josh Cribbs took a punt 67 yards for a touchdown.
Browns WR Braylon Edwards took the blame for a Quinn interception on which it appeared that Vikings CB Cedric Griffin was the intended receiver.
Quinn took the broader blame for the loss, which included a Garo Yepremian routine from the third-year quarterback.
The columnists realize it’s a new regime in Cleveland, but they see the same sort of team.
DE Robaire Smith addressed a second-half collapse that saw a three-point lead become as much as a 21-point deficit: “They flat-out outplayed us in the second half. We have to come back out there with the same intensity, the same fire we had in the first half. We can’t come in and be satisfied with a three-point lead or just being in a game.’'
The loss threw water on LB D’Qwell Jackson’s preseason non-prediction prediction: “I’m not making a prediction, but we’ll be a damn good team this year.”