EAGAN, Minn. — This week has been a whirlwind.

The Vikings offense stumbled Monday night. On Tuesday, the team traded for 38-year-old Kirk Cousins, who started 88 regular-season games for Minnesota from 2018-23. He met with media members on Wednesday and talked, among other things, about feeling like his whole career has been "unfinished business."

The affable quarterback took the field for the first time Thursday in his reclaimed No. 8 jersey.

Goosebumps — not because it was 35° — followed. The sun peeked through a layer of clouds, and Creed's "Higher" blared from the speakers, a new (or old) addition to the playlist. Vikings players who have joined the team since 2024 learned how Cousins and the locker room previously enjoyed that song as a rallying force.

It felt like this team regained some pizzazz, even after losing consecutive games following a 6-0 start. Now, Minnesota will try to get back on track in an important divisional clash at Green Bay (6-3) with Cousins at quarterback, but will do it without starters Blake Cashman (concussion protocol) and T.J. Hockenson (chest/wrist), as well as Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins (ankle).

That trio has been ruled out, in addition to Kyler Murray (hamstring) and Jauan Jennings (calf), who will miss their second straight games. Three others are questionable: Kyle Van Noy (calf), and Jordan Addison (thumb) and Joshua Metellus (shoulder), who were added to the injury report Friday.

Let's preview the 133^rd Border Battle between the Vikings and the Packers.

3 Prominent Topics

1. Time is a flat circle

Truly, the script writers couldn't outdo the circumstances and opportunity in front of Cousins and the Vikings. He has the chance to be the first quarterback in NFL history to play 18 regular-season games. He can essentially fill in the back half of 2023, which was robbed from him when he tore his Achilles at Lambeau Field in Week 8, and he can make the Purple a three-phase contender — and he can furnish his greatest statistical season yet — with good performances in the final nine games.

Since leaving Minnesota in 2024 free agency, Cousins has appeared in 33 games for Atlanta (24) and Las Vegas (nine). He's thrown for 7,569 yards at a 64.7% clip with 48 touchdowns and 29 interceptions, good for a 90.2 passer rating, while the QB collective of Sam Darnold, J.J. McCarthy, Carson Wentz, Max Brosmer and Kyler Murray have combined to pass for 8,163 yards at a 63.6% clip with 61 TDs and 38 INTs for an 88.5 rating over 42 games in that span. Darnold propped up that quintet with 4,319 yards and 35 TDs in 17 contests two years ago. Suffice to say, the post-2024 Vikings passing game has struggled to find a rhythm; Minnesota ranks 29^th in completion rate (61.4%), 30^th in TDs with as many picks (26), and ranks 32^nd in yards (4,120) and passer rating (77.5).

That his second Vikings stint begins where his first ended is neat at the least. Cousins is 6-4-1 in his career vs. Green Bay and 2-2-1 at Lambeau Field, with a 93.8 passer rating and a 9:6 TD-to-INT split.

2. Dynamic defense

Brian Flores' bunch is enjoying a torrid start. Here's where they rank in a handful of categories through a team's first eight games since 2020: The unit has surrendered 116 points, which is the second fewest to the 2024 Chargers (101) — and the fewest permitted over the first eight by the Purple since allowing 114 in 1986; they also are No. 2 in opponent passer rating with a mark of 67.9 (Buffalo charged QBs with a 62.9 rating in 2021); and they have allowed five passing touchdowns to match the 2021 Bills and 2024 Bears for the second fewest, as well (the 2022 Broncos gave up four).

For the most part, Minnesota has put a stranglehold on rushing attacks, too. Although players rebuked the idea that a near 43-to-17-minute difference in time of possession on Monday Night Football affected them physically, being on the field for that long is not a winning formula; they faced a similar story in Week 8 at Detroit when the TOP was about 36 to 24. Taking mind of those gaps, here's how the Vikings run defense has performed in 30 of 32 quarters this season (excluding the final stanzas vs. the Lions and the Bills): they've allowed 4.1 yards a pop and four touchdowns.

On a related note, opponents have scored a TD on only 26.3% of red-zone excursions this season; that would be the stingiest single-season mark by any team since at least 2000 per NFL Research.

3. Eyes on Love

Jordan Love is the NFL passing yards leader entering Week 10 — he's on pace for a Packers franchise record 4,945 — and he gutted New England's secondary last Sunday, finishing 23-for-29 with 372 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions. It was his most yards without a turnover and his third-most yards in a game in his career. For what it's worth, his Top 2 performances by yardage were against — you guessed it — Minnesota in Week 4 in 2024 (389) and in Week 1 this season (387). But in contrast to the Pats game, which featured a career-best 153.2 passer rating, Love didn't exactly thrive in those rivalries; his rating was 88.1 in the opener and 83.0 in that 2024 matchup to rank 37^th and tied for 39^th out of 57 starts. Impressively, Love has a rating above 100 in nearly half of them (27 of 57), but in six against the Vikings — and Flo's creative schematics — he's eclipsed the century mark just once, and it was in the penultimate game of the 2023 slate. Love's top passer rating in the five other meetings against Flores is 91.7 set in Week 17 two years ago.

The Packers QB is doing many things well, and these two exceptionally: getting the ball out quickly and threading explosives. Love's time to throw is 2.60 seconds, according to Next Gen Stats, which is second to Aaron Rodgers last season (2.59) for the quickest among qualifying QBs since 2025 — Flo's forces have the third-fastest time to pressure in 2026 at 2.55 seconds, by the way. Love also is making defenses pay in chunks. He's attempted 54 passes traveling 20-plus air yards (13 more than anyone else), and he has 40 completions gaining 20-plus yards (eight more than the second player).

Love has league-leading production against the blitz (967 yards, 10 TDs), but he's not immune to it. He was picked off once, sacked four times and pressured on 19 of 35 drop backs when the Vikings sent an extra rusher(s) his direction Sept. 13. Minnesota has blitzed on 72.5% of drop backs overall.

2 Talented Packers

1. Evan Williams | S | No. 33

A tackling machine, Williams is tied for the most tackles among NFL defensive backs (76) entering Week 10 and boasts 23 more than Green Bay's No. 2 tackler, LB Isaiah McDuffie. On occasion, tackles can be a half-baked stat; they don't say whether a tackle was made 1 or 50 yards beyond the LOS. But in Williams' case they underline his ability to make an impact on every blade of grass.

Williams primarily factors as a free safety and is elite in coverage, but he's aligned in the box on approximately 100 snaps this year, as well. He's physical, and a proficient tackler (only four whiffs and a low 5.0% missed tackle rate). He's also instinctive and a ball-hawker in run and pass phases.

In coverage, Williams has given up 13 catches for 84 yards and a touchdown on 24 targets. He has intercepted three passes, and his passer rating allowed is 36.1, which ranks second among qualifying safeties per Next Gen Stats (Jevon Holland, 11.7). Williams also is credited by NGS with eight "hustle stops" (a tackle where a player covers 20 or more yards of in-play distance), which is tied with new Jaguars safety Jessie Bates III for the third most by a DB, trailing Seahawks CB Devon Witherspoon (14) and Ravens S Kyle Hamilton (nine). Additionally, Williams has recorded 10 QB pressures (one sack) on 32 pass rushes; the only DB with more is Seattle's Nick Emmanwori (17).

2. Christian Watson | WR | No. 9

Green Bay's No. 1 receiver is 6-foot-4, 215 pounds and can flat-out fly. He escaped the last line of defense and dropped 147 yards and two touchdowns on the Vikings in Week 1, and he's coming off a single-game career-high 171 yards on seven catches (24.4 avg.) in Week 9 against New England.

Watson is going into Week 10 with the third-most receiving yards (879) after Jaxon Smith-Njigba (1,036) and CeeDee Lamb (904), but he stands out among them due to his 17.9 yards per catch. Watson has a road to go to join this company, but only six players since 2000 have averaged 95+ yards per game and 17.5+ yards per catch in a season: Torry Holt in 2000, Steve Smith, Sr., in 2008, Victor Cruz in 2011, Calvin Johnson in 2011 and 2013, Josh Gordon in 2013 and Mike Evans in 2018.

This section, honestly, should put respect on Watson's and Matthew Golden's names because the latter is breaking out. The 2025 No. 23 overall draft pick has more than doubled his outputs in yards (361 to 783) and is up to five touchdowns after not scoring any during the regular season as a rookie. Together, Watson and Golden have combined for more catches of 20+ yards (17 and 14, respectively) than the Vikings as a whole (19). Moreover, they're just the fourth teammate duo in the Super Bowl era to each have 750+ receiving yards and 5+ touchdowns entering Week 10 of a season. The others, so you can win trivia night, are Mike Evans and Chris Godwin on the 2019 Bucs, Peerless Price and Eric Moulds on the 2002 Bills, and Kellen Winslow and John Jefferson on the 1980 Chargers. The Packers pair has more yards and TDs than Vikings pass-catchers altogether.

1 More Thing to Know

Someone in the office proposed Mark Morrison's magnum opus "Return of the Mack" (a song with redemptive ambiance) should backdrop Cousins taking the field for the first time as a Viking, again.

We're down with that idea. After all, it's a phenomenal song (it used to be the walk-up track for Twins All-Star Byron Buxton) and it would snugly fit the narrative for the Return of "Kirko Chainz" — and the hopeful return to form for Justin Jefferson, who ranks 35^th in receiving yards per game (56.1).

History — rather, historic chemistry — between Cousins and "Jets" suggests the superstar may turn the corner as soon as Sunday. A couple of nuggets from Next Gen Stats explain what, why and how. First, Jefferson has the 30^th-most receiving yards (252) on downfield targets this season. From 2020-23, however, he hauled in 3,905 yards on downfield passes flicked by Cousins. That tally was nearly 1,000 yards more than the No. 2 duo (Josh Allen and Stefon Diggs, 2,919). Another eyepopper is the receiver's success on in-breaking routes, which have long been his bread and butter. He's only been targeted 17 times on such routes and nabbed 11 of them for 155 yards this season; that's his fewest targets, receptions and yards on in-breakers through Week 9 of any campaign in his career. Akin to the downfield profits, Jefferson and Cousins were the top pair from 2020-23, syncing for 2,375 yards on in-breaking routes during that span. It's not a cinch they immediately resume where they left off — Jefferson noted the focus is on play-to-play execution and not getting "too juiced up" about Cousins returning — but the historic chemistry and potential for Jefferson to excel is unmistakable.

Here's what Jefferson said when he was asked why he's clicked so well with Cousins in the past:

"I mean, he's a guy that studies the game a lot. He understands how the defenses play, especially covering me. And he understands — just like he said the other day — the plays that we have called that are kind of my plays. And he understands the timing and the windows to throw those types of plays. But he also doesn't force those types of plays to me. And he just lets the game come to me."

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