Minnesota Vikings News and Links, 8/25

It's the start of a new week, ladies and gentlemen, and we're not far off from the Minnesota Vikings' final pre-season game of 2014, which will see them take to the road again to take on the Tennessee Titans. More on that over the next couple of days.

Since the last time we brought you an Open Thread. . .

-CCNorseman has put together a fantasy football guide for your reading pleasure.

-The St. Louis Rams, who the Minnesota Vikings will do battle with in just 13 days to start the 2014 regular season, will be without their top quarterback for the entire season.

-We took a stab at predicting the first wave of roster cuts, which are due a little more than 24 hours from now.

-Eric managed to score an exclusive interview with wide receiver Rodney Smith.

-The Vikings have once again increased their contribution to the new stadium in order to preserve all the amenities that were promised.

-And if you'd like to look back on all our coverage of the Vikings' 30-12 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs, you can look back at the stream with all our stories on it.

From some other sources across the internet. . .

-Ben Goessling of ESPN has some takeaways from Saturday night's contest.

-The folks from Pro Football Focus are wondering if it's time to start worrying about left tackle Matt Kalil.

-Jim Souhan of the Star-Tribune is uncharacteristically optimistic about head coach Mike Zimmer.

-Maybe there's something in the water at the Star-Tribune offices, because Patrick Reusse seems to be pretty happy, too.

The rules of the Open Thread are the same as they've ever been, ladies and gentlemen. . .no politics, no religion, no feeding of the trolls, keep the bad language to a minimum (using spoiler tags, if necessary), and keep the GIFs relatively work-safe.

Random song for today's music.

With that, the beer light is on and the bar is open for this Monday, ladies and gentlemen. Enjoy the rest of your day!