Something had to give. In this case it was the Vikings, as the Saints forced five turnovers and pressured a badlt beaten Brett Favre into a crucial interception that allowed New Orleans to win in overtime. During the offseason Vikings fans wailed about everything from poor officiating to an NFL post-Katrina conspiracy. Make no mistake, the Minnesota Vikings are coming to the Superdome looking for a measure of revenge. They’ve got Favre back. Unfortunately Sidney Rice is out and Percy Harvin is a big question mark. Minnesota is going to trying to work in new receivers and depend on Adrian Peterson to keep the opportunistic Saints defense at bay.

 The New Orleans Saints meanwhile, will be missing Darren Sharper, a thief of epic proportions. A re-tooled defensive line, designed to stop the run, hasn’t been great in the pre-season. But Drew Brees and the mega-offense of the Saints could possibly be even better than 2009. It’s going to be a great way to open a season.

 Alas, it appears not to be. The rumored party boy and less than perfect teammate is now riding the knife edge of an ignonimous release from the Cardinals roster. arizona is rumored to be looking for a trade for the former USC star, whose claim to fame now looks to be a good showing in a losing effort in the BCS National Championship Game. It’s a long fall from #1 draft pick to shaking hands with the Turk. Bu according to sources close to the Arizona Cardinals,Leinart has failed to take advantage of his own talent and the tutelage of Kurt Warner. So be it.

 Now all that’s left is for the Pittsburgh Steelers to get through the first month of the season without their starting QB. That means living through and opener against the Atlanta Falcons in Atlanta, road games with the Tennessee Titans and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and another home game at Heinz with the Baltimore Ravens. Obviously the Falcona and the Ravens offer the biggest challenge. So I’m thinking if the Pittsburgh Steelers can end up at 2-2 after four weeks and Big Ben isn’t too rusty, the Steelers have a chance at being full speed. Now whether full speed is good enough to win their division remains to be seen.

Elsewhere in college football, we’ll see what basicall amounts to a lot of warmup games for the major pwers and ranked teams, plenty of blowouts and runovers.  Neither Alabama nor Nebraska nor Florida or any Top ten team seems to be interested in getting it on early. But just wait a few weeks my friends, those college football tickets are going to get real interesting real soon.

 But this may be the most challenging U.S. Open of his career. At some point Federer may have to deal with Rafael Nadal, who trying to win a Grand slam. Or it could be Andy Roddick. Or maybe Andy Murray. Or sopme other rising young star we don’t know about. In other words there’s no shortage of competition at this U.S. Open and if Roger Federer wants another one he’ll probably have to play some of the best tennis of his career.

My biggest concern is whether an NFl team can truly prepare in two weeks. Should the pre-season be shortened, would those surprise players get a chance to develop? For instance, last night against the San Diego Chargers, Saints undrafted rookie Chris Ivory got plenty of playing time, did well, and broke open a 76-yard TD catch and run that was beautiful to behold. In an 18 game NFL ticket season, Ivory would probably not have been on the field and may not have made the team. Now he’s a lock. Think about it.

 With six offensive touchdowns to their credit, the Packers made the Colts look like chumps. And the problems for the Colts extend to the special teams as well, where they gave up two mors scores. For the Green Bay Packers and their fans it’s just raising the bar to another level, one where they feel they can slide under the media darling Minnesota Vikings and drive a spike into the heart of the vampire Brett Favre. The Packers are geared for a Super Bowl. They’ve got a Pro Bowl quarterback, a thieving defense, and a crop of youngsters thirsty for their first drink of glory. It all adds up to great things for Green Bay Packers tickets in 2010.

1) As indicated above, all the biggest impact players are returning.

2) Both Sean Payton and Drew Brees are remarkable leaders, and the combination of the two can’t be found anywhere else in the NFL.

3) Undrafted rookie Chris Ivory shows every sign of being better than Mike Bell and could surpass Bell’s contributions.

4) Running back Reggie Bush is healthier than he’s ever been.

5) The Saints defense could be better, but still seems to have the ability to generate takeaways.

6) Lance Moore returns to a receiving corp that has no equal in the NFL in terms of across the board depth.

7) Judging by pre-season play, the New Orleans offense is still the best in the NFL

While the Saints special teams play hasn’t been great it’s gotten better in the last pre-season game against the Chargers

9) Fullback Heath Evans returns healthy and provides Brees with another weapon and better blocking than they had for most of last season.

 The biggest impact of all will come from the leadership of the New Orleans Saints. This is a team that buys in big time when Brees and Payton speak, and has been handpicked by Payton for both talent and character. When the hard times come, and they wioll, this is an NFL team that will stick together.