"Silver Linings" from the Vikings' Loss to the 49ers

Last night was rough. An offseason and preseason filled with anticipation and good vibes for the Minnesota Vikings was quickly squashed in a matter of hours on a national stage. The Vikings laid an egg in Week 1, losing 20-3 to the San Francisco 49ers.

At first glance, there weren't a whole lot of bright spots to the game from a Vikings fan's perspective. Everything that could have gone wrong seemed to do so. The offense couldn't score. The defense couldn't tackle. And we couldn't stop swearing at our televisions.

But we're here to tell you that even though the 2015 season didn't get off to an ideal start, there is plenty to be hopeful about going forward. If you look hard enough, you'll see that the purple storm cloud that hovered over Levi's Stadium is full of silver linings. I present to you just a small sampling of positive takeaways from Monday night's game:

• After waiting a full year, Vikings fans finally got to see #28 run wild! Sure, that #28 was being worn by Carlos Hyde, but still. He did a cool spin move and everything.
• Speaking of that other #28, Adrian Peterson is still incredibly fresh. Instead of grinding their star running back into the ground in the first game, the Vikings staff only gave AP 13 touches last night. It's a marathon, not a sprint folks. Smart.
• We were silly to worry about Blair Walsh. He has already improved his field goal percentage from the preseason by 5 percent. He also made a 75-yarder just moments after converting a 37-yard field goal! (It was a kickoff, but that still counts right? Baby steps.)
• Chad Greenway made Peyton Manning feel a whole lot younger. I'm sure Peyton had some doubts after his shaky Week 1 performance against the Baltimore Ravens in Denver. But hey, if Greenway is still in the starting lineup at this stage in his career, surely Manning can play until he's 50!
• The weather was really nice in Santa Clara. They had virtually ideal conditions for a football game last night. You know, if two football teams had actually showed up.
• Coffee sales in Minnesota are probably very strong today after so many of us stayed up to watch that garbage. You're welcome, Starbucks and Caribou!
• Conversely, causal NFL fans probably got sufficient rest since most of them turned off the game by the third quarter. If it was an interesting game, people across the country would be sluggish at work today. So it probably isn't much of a stretch to say that the Minnesota Vikings were helping our nation's economy last night by sucking.
• The Detroit Lions are going to have a real hard time scouting the Vikings. It's really hard to get a feel for your next opponent when you're laughing hysterically at the game tape.
• The next time the Vikings play a prime time game on the road, you can just skip the game and get some chores done or something. It's not like you'll be missing anything.
• You can wash that lucky shirt you were going to wear until the Vikings lost this season well before it starts to smell. Hygiene FTW!
• Any Packers fans you know have probably already used their best taunting material on you. At this rate they'll be completely out of hurtful jokes by October.
• Any Giants fans you know are probably sending thank you notes or buying you a beer the next time you see them. Here they thought they were going to have to deal with the most embarrassing national television loss of the year, and they didn't even have the most embarrassing national television loss of the week!
• If you played against anyone that started Minnesota Vikings players in fantasy football, you probably won! Congratulations on your 1-0 start.
• At this rate, tickets for US Bank Stadium might not be that expensive after all when it opens next year.
• The Vikings certainly had nicer uniforms than the 49ers' all-black monstrosities. As an added bonus, barely any of those all-white Minnesota unis got dirty last night! Not tackling means much less wear and tear; I'm sure the equipment manager appreciates that.
• You can't call Vikings fans pessimistic or negative because all of the concerns we had heading into the season were completely valid. Heck, there are all sorts of new concerns to be negative about that we didn't even anticipate! Now we don't have to cope with those new emotions like "hope", "excitement", and "happiness". We can go back to our old familiar emotions of "dread", "despair", and "alcohol".
• Daily Norseman got more traffic thanks to 49ers fans stopping over to offer their condolences (most of them) or rub the loss in our face (a few bad apples). If the Vikings had won, they probably won't have stopped over to our site at all. Losses = traffic. It's simple math.
• And how about those San Francisco fans? For months all they heard was how terrible their team was going to be after the mass exodus of players and coaches. For the first time in ages, 49ers fans got to feel good about themselves. It's really a heartwarming story when you remove your affinity for the horrible team that lined up against them last night.
• Despite the slow start, the Vikings are still tied for second place in the NFC North and are only one game behind the division leaders! WE GOT THIS, GUYS!

@eric_j_thompson Stefon Diggs' uniform is still fresh and clean and in the plastic wrapper from the cleaners.

— Ted Glover (@purplebuckeye) September 15, 2015

Have your own silver linings we may have missed? Let us know in the comments.