Sweet mercy, that was terrible. That Vikings vs. Lions game was among some of the worst offensive football you could ever hope to never see. It felt like a parent watching an 8-year-old child play. They only lures were that your team was playing … and, we suppose, that for whatever reason they actually had a chance to win. Some observations about 20-17 Detroit, OT:

*The Vikings have not had a sustained TD drive of any consequential length in two games this season. Their points yesterday came courtesy of the defense and two short fields provided by long kickoff returns (and the short TD drive was aided by a tainted, albeit crafty, third-down “completion” after which the Purple smartly ran up and spiked the ball so there could be no challenge). If the Vikings are willing to take their lumps with Tarvaris Jackson, who looked close to OK in Game 1 and pretty dreadful in Game 2, their victory ceiling is no higher than 6 or 7 games. That’s just reality. Jackson is absolutely not ready to be a starting quarterback in the NFL, and we weren’t crazy about the manner in which he took himself out of the game in OT. He has potential, for sure. But those were not NFL throws or decisions he was making yesterday. They need to decide ASAP if this is really a rebuilding year to get Jackson some seasoning or if they think they have enough parts on defense and in the running game to make a run at 9-10 wins and a possible playoff spot with a veteran like Kelly Holcomb running the show. Oh, and that fumbled OT snap by Brooks Bollinger? Inexcusable at that juncture, when the worst that should happen is a failed third down conversion and a punt deep in Detroit territory.

*The pass defense is still vulnerable, though the pass rush makes a difference. The pass rush will be the key all season. It was decent, but inconsistent yesterday. If Jon Kitna had played the entire game — and yes, this is sad — the Lions probably would have won by 10 points in regulation. Teams that spread it around and move methodically can still advance the ball with relative ease if the pass rush is spotty.

*It would be nice to see a few more creative ways to get Adrian Peterson the ball. It would also be nice to see a few runs to the left side, where the Vikings are paying Fort Knox money to Steve Hutchinson and Bryant McKinnie. Peterson is their one chance on offense. Can you even imagine if the Vikings hadn’t drafted him?

*Through all that stumbling around yesterday, Minnesota somehow had a very good chance to win. If Longwell’s kick — booted off of Curly’s head — is about 6 inches to the right, the Vikings are 2-0 and some of these problems are a little easier to gloss over. As it is, they’re sitting at 1-1 in a division that might be tougher than predicted (the Bears are always tough with that D, the Packers look frisky and the Lions, when Kitna plays, can hurt you). Escaping with a victory might have only built up unreasonable expectations; then again, this loss could prove to be a defining turning point in the season.

Other stuff: At the very least, no matter how bad your weekend was or how frustrating it was to watch the local NFL squad, you are not Orenthal James Simpson. Be thankful. … Um, not to gloat or anything because we’re pretty sure a .500 week (or worse) is coming, but we have already clinched this week’s U pick’em victory (13 for 15 so far) among RandBall commenters, and we’re among the top 100 (out of nearly 100K people) for the two weeks so far. Like we said: this will all end soon. But for now, it feels kind of good. We’re going to chase that feeling. … Johan Santana now has 12 losses and is giving up first-inning runs and home runs like a guy named Radke used to. Batters are hitting .307 with 9 HRs in the first inning off of him this season, and he’s allowed the most HRs in the entire American League (30). What does a team like the Twins do with a pitcher like that going into his final year next season?

Mystery link! We suppose this was the inevitable response to the Britney video.

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