Gregg Rosenthal

NEW ORLEANS - The first chapter following Brett Favre’s latest misadventure in semi-unretirement had a familiar feel. Here was Favre, four weeks removed from tending his hundreds of acres, struggling to connect with wide receivers with whom he’s barely practiced.

The Vikings got away with it last season because they opened with the Browns and the Lions. This time, they blew a golden chance to beat the defending Super Bowl champions, falling to the Saints 14-9. New Orleans won’t be held to 14 points often; the Minnesota defense played well enough to win. Favre wasn’t yet ready to take advantage.

“You can attribute it to … whatever,” Favre said in a defensive moment after the game. “People are going to call it rusty. People are going to have their own opinions. I know we’re going to be better.”

Favre said “the timing was a little bit off.”

A lot of credit must go to the Saints secondary and game plan. Known for their pressure, the Saints often dropped eight defenders into coverage. Wide receiver Bernard Berrian, coach Brad Childress and Brett Favre all said the Saints’ scheme took away outside deep throws.

“The looks that they gave us, we couldn’t adjust,” Berrian said after catching one pass for 3 yards. He said they saw “way” more looks than expected where the Saints dropped two safeties deep into coverage.

That threw the Vikings off.

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"This was set up as a big blitz game, and the blitz was very, very very infrequent,” Childress said.

Minnesota wasn’t able to counterpunch because Favre and his wideouts couldn’t produce. Starters Percy Harvin and Berrian combined for 15 yards. No wide receiver had more than one catch. This was an inept performance; a game that was closer to a Saints blowout than a Vikings victory.

Favre finished with an unspectacular stat line: 15-of-27 passing for 171 yards, one TD, one interception.

The Vikings managed to take the lead at halftime 9-7 after a rough first quarter when Favre threw two beautiful passes up the seam to Visanthe Shiancoe, who had 76 yards, including a 33-yard score.

Then the Vikings turned into the ’09 Rams. Minnesota had five second half drives, resulting in two first downs and 65 yards of total offense. All five drives ended in punts. Despite an amazing effort by an overmatched Vikings secondary, Favre never put Minnesota in position to score again.

Favre’s protection mostly held up well, but he was often too quick to release the ball, especially after he took a big hit to the chest on his first-half interception. (He was lucky not to throw a few more.) Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams didn’t blitz that much, but the ghost of Williams’ blitzes past seemed to make Favre feel pressure that wasn’t really there. The Saints sped his internal clock up.

In some ways, Favre’s starting slow and losing to the Saints was familiar. But the style of the game reminded everyone it was a new season. This was the lowest-scoring victory of Sean Payton’s career, but the Saints offense showed promise, producing long drives that just didn’t result in scores. A pair of missed field goals and a dropped touchdown took points off the board. So did uncharacteristic penalties, but the New Orleans running game, led by Pierre Thomas, closed out the game with power. Drew Brees mostly looked sharp. Of course, he’s had a full offseason with his receivers.