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What are our top 3 priorities to help secure a Viking victory on opening night?
-- Corwin O
Vancouver, WA
1. Get off the field on 3rd down defense – The Saints obviously possess a potent offensive attack capable of lighting up the scoreboard, so any time the Vikings defense gets a chance to get off the field on 3rd down they’ve got to do it. The Vikings had a nice 3rd-down defense in the preseason, as opponents converted just 29% of their 3rd downs. Against New Orleans in last year’s NFC Championship Game, the Vikings defense held the Saints to just 3 of 12 on 3rd downs.
2. Pressure on the QB – The Vikings offensive line must protect 
3. Special teams play – The Vikings and Saints are similar in a lot of ways, so this game is likely to be a tight one all the way to the finish. With that being said, special teams could provide either team with a chance to gain a slight edge in this matchup, whether it’s with return yardage, field position or clutch kicking.
Is CB
-- Chad M.
Douglasville, GA
Yes, it was good to see Griffin back out on the field with his teammates. I’m not sure when to expect him back, but Chad is right in that it appears it won’t be this week against New Orleans. Perhaps we’ll get a better idea of a timeline when assistant head coach/defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier meets with the media today. It is possible that the Vikings will wait until after their Week 4 bye to bring him back, which would give Griffin an extra week to get back to full strength.
With the recent cut of WR T.J. Houshmandzadeh, do you see the Vikings going after him? And with WR Vincent Jackson still angry (with the Chargers) do you see a future trade being possible?
-- Rich D.
vikings.com Blog commenter
Coach Childress said on Sunday that at this point the Vikings aren’t interested and that the team is more inclined to look at a WR that knows the West Coast offense. But that doesn’t mean the possibility of Houshmandzadeh coming here is gone, it just doesn’t seem likely at this point. As for Jackson, I’d describe his chances of landing here the same way as Houshmandzadeh’s – possible but unlikely. The cost of acquiring Jackson is high – first a team has to work out trade compensation with San Diego and then the team has to work out a new contract with Jackson. It’s an expensive proposition to acquire Jackson, especially when you consider he must serve a suspension to start this season that could be as much as 6 games or as little as 3 games.
What did we get out of the trade for Sage and Reynaud?
-- A-McCoy13
vikings.com Blog commenter
Childress indicated on Sunday that the Vikings received a 5th round pick for Rosenfels and “possibly a 7th” round pick for Reynaud.
Is there some reason the Vikings only kept 4 WRs on their roster? Are they still planning to deal a trade, or are they convinced that they have enough depth? Don’t you think the Vikings need more depth?
-- jif
vikings.com Blog commenter
There’s certainly a reason to only keep 4 WRs and I’m sure it’s just how the numbers played out when Childress and VP of Player Personnel Rick Spielman sat down and shaped the roster. There’s a saying that goes “you’ve got to give something to get something” and I think in order for the Vikings to be strong in one part of the roster they had to give a little bit on another part of the roster. For example, the Vikings kept 10 defensive lineman and 7 LBs, which means the Vikings will have great depth at those 2 positions. But you can’t have great depth at every position, so one position has to lose a guy that it potentially could’ve kept.
With all of that being said, it’s possible the Vikings will add another WR before Week 1. And it’s also possible the Vikings will go into Week 1 with those 4 WRs and then they’ll add another receiver down the line, when that need becomes a priority.
