Minnesota @ St. Louis preview

Last Meeting ( Dec 16, 2012 ) Minnesota 36, St. Louis 22

Now that the Michael Sam saga is behind them, the St. Louis Rams can focus solely on football when they host the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday in the season opener for both teams. The Rams' biggest area of concern is at quarterback where $50-million man Sam Bradford is out for the season with a torn ACL and veteran backup Shaun Hill takes over. The 35-year-old Hill, who has thrown only 16 passes in the last three seasons and started 26 games in his career, will be thrown into the fire in the rough and rugged NFC West.

Hill could find a soft landing spot in the opener against a porous Vikings defense that yielded a NFL record-tying 37 touchdowns last season and will be without five-time Pro Bowl defensive end Jared Allen for the first time since 2007. Minnesota cleaned house after the season, replacing coach Leslie Frazier with Cincinnati defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer and bringing in notable offensive guru Norv Turner to call the plays and George Edwards to assist in schooling the defense. Opposing defenses again will attempt to stop Adrian Peterson and force quarterback Matt Cassel to beat them down the field.

TV: 1 p.m. ET, FOX. LINE: St. Louis -4. O/U: 43.5

ABOUT THE VIKINGS (2013: 5-10-1, 4th NFC North): To capitalize on all five interior linemen returning and one of the presumably few remaining peak seasons left for the 29-year-old Peterson, the Vikings need to address a defense that yielded an NFL-worst 30 points per game and almost 400 yards per contest. Everson Griffen, a five-year veteran who has recorded 13 1/2 sacks the past two years, will take over for Allen, and the Vikings feel first-round pick Anthony Barr will be a difference-maker at linebacker. Not much weight will be placed on the Vikings' undefeated preseason, but Cassel, who is being pushed by first-round pick Teddy Bridgewater, notched a 103.3 passer rating and adapted well to Turner's scheme that requires more passes down the field than in years past.

ABOUT THE RAMS (2013: 7-9, 4th NFC West): Almost lost in all the hoopla surrounding Sam was the injury to Bradford, who has been hurt in three of the last four years and has been just mediocre when on the field since being drafted with the first overall pick in 2010. With Hill taking the reigns, St. Louis will have to rely even more heavily on a deep and talented defensive line led by end Robert Quinn, who had a franchise-record 19 sacks and seven forced fumbles in 2013. The Rams' defense led the NFC in fewest yards per carry (3.7) last campaign and were second in sacks (53) - a big reason why Sam couldn't crack this talented, deep defensive front despite three sacks in the preseason.

EXTRA POINTS

1. Peterson enters the season first in team history and 27th all-time with 10,115 yards. He could move into the top 15 with another 1,500 yards this year.

2. Vikings TE Kyle Rudolph signed a five-year contract over the summer that makes him the fifth-highest paid at his position. He lost weight this offseason and will be featured more in Turner's offense that had Antonio Gates in San Diego.

3. Minnesota leads the all-time series 19-14-2 and has won three of the past four games.

PREDICTION: Vikings 21, Rams 13