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The Vikings fell behind early but stayed the course until swaying the outcome.

Like every game at U.S. Bank Stadium for several years, there were flurries of snow during the pregame "Showtime" sequence. To borrow from Head Coach Kevin O'Connell, an “avalanche” of momentum occurred in the late third and fourth quarters on the way to a 39-22 victory, producing the 1,097^th unique score (a SCORIGAMI) in NFL history and second of the young 2026 campaign.

Minnesota became the first NFL team to trail by 12+ points with less than 20 minutes in regulation and end up winning by 17+ points, according to OptaSTATS.

Kyler Murray made his anticipated Vikings debut but left the game after suffering a concussion on a play that resulted in unnecessary roughness penalty against the Packers.

Carson Wentz calmly entered the game and helped Minnesota begin to make strides. His veteran presence showed up when he took advantage of a free play on an offsides penalty against Lukas Van Ness and floated a beauty to Justin Jefferson for a 39-yard score, which was longer than any TD pass by the 2025 Vikings and the first of three TD passes by Wentz.

According to ESPN Insights, Wentz was the first reserve QB to throw three touchdown passes and zero interceptions in a season-opening win since Pro Football Hall of Famer Fran Tarkenton in Minnesota's inaugural game, which was on-point with the Vikings wearing their Classic uniforms.

A key stuff by rookie Domonique Orange to stop Jordan Love's sneak on fourth-and-1 was followed by an 83-yard touchdown drive capped by a 3-yard run by Aaron Jones, Sr. — his first against the team that drafted him. That score and a 2-point conversion pass to Jefferson gave Minnesota its first lead of 2026 (25-22).

Had the Packers not decided to take a field goal off the board and go for it on the fourth-and-1 that was squeezed by "Big Citrus," the resulting drive could have only tied the game. Instead, the Vikings repeated efforts in causing pressure were rewarded.

Blake Cashman and Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins tackled MarShawn Lloyd for a loss of 3 before Dallas Turner forced a fumble on a sack (the ball was recovered by Green Bay OL Zach Bako-Bewele). On third-and-17, Cash' and Andrew Van Ginkel converged on Love, with Van Ginkel dislodging the football and returning it 7 yards to the Minnesota 1.

Jordan Mason plunged in for a score on the next snap, a one-play, 1-yard drive that lasted 0:04 and made it 32-22 with 4:48 remaining.

Two plays later, Cashman tipped a pass at the line of scrimmage. It ricocheted off Harrison Smith (welcome back, Hitman) and into the hands of newcomer James Pierre, who returned the ball 28 yards to the Green Bay 14.

On the third ensuing snap, Wentz hit Jefferson on a short crossing route and "Jets" had enough juice to make it to the end zone, matching his TD total from 2025 in one outing while tying Hall of Famer Randy Moss for second in Vikings history on the receptions leaderboard with catch No. 587.

Up next is a visit to Chicago for the Bears home opener at noon (CT) Sunday.

What a game to open the 2026 season. The fourth quarter was insane? Unfortunately, we had neither sustained defense nor offense for most of the first three quarters. But winning is great, and it was so nicely done in the fourth.

Below are my 3 Ups and 3 Downs for the game.

UPS:

1. The entire fourth quarter. Unbelievable defense and opportunistic offense. I give the defense credit for sacking Love multiple times when it mattered most.

2. Punt and kick return games were improved. Keep up the good work.

3. Wentz's overall play as the backup. He won.

DOWNS:

1. Kyler goes down early and is in concussion protocol. Not good.

2. Defense gives up too much too easy early on. No pressure on Love when he dropped back until the fourth and gave up a lot of yards. And of course, we give up a 2-minute Packers scoring drive before half that answered our second quarter TD.

3. Our punt and kick coverage needs to improve. Way too many yards given up.

Looking forward to the Bears already.

Respectfully,

— Jeff L.

First off, it was great to have a few minutes to speak with Jeff before Sunday's game. He had let me know his annual trip for a Vikings home game was going to be the Border Battle. It was his first Border Battle since attending one with his father at the Old Met decades ago.

Jeff's seats were diagonally opposite my vantage point, about as opposite as the first 40 minutes were compared to the final 20.

That final 20 minutes was textbook complementary football, with special teams delivering a huge kickoff return by Myles Price (career-long 68-yarder that was enabled by DeeJay Dallas' block) for a 28-yard touchdown drive capped with a 16-yarder to T.J. Hockenson.

Then it was …

Packers turnover on downs (fourth-and-1 play)

Vikings 83-yard TD drive

Packers sack fumble returned to the 1

Vikings 1-yard TD run

Packers interception

Vikings 14-yard TD drive

Packers turnover on downs

Vikings victory formation.

Price averaged 35.8 yards on five kickoff returns to open his second pro season.

Green Bay's Bo Melton averaged 31.0 on four.

Minnesota rookie punter Brett Thorson averaged 40.3 yards on his four punts and netted 36.0. He placed three inside the Green Bay 20, and more importantly the punt coverage team limited Skyy Moore to 17 yards on two punt returns.

Wentz finished 12-for-19 with 133 yards and three scores for a passer rating of 123.5.

Everyone was disappointed for Murray but also happy for what Wentz was able to accomplish, despite not repping with the 1s last week.

The defense allowed five pass plays of more than 30 yards, including an 81-yard touchdown to Christian Watson, as well as a 43-yarder to tight end Jonnu Smith (he got lost in Minnesota's secondary) and a 42-yarder to Matthew Golden.

Those are some issues that will need to be cleaned up before facing a Bears team that posted 59 points at Carolina in Week 1.

1. Wentz proved the season doesn't collapse if Murray misses time. He came in cold and went 12/19, 133 yards, 3 TDs, ZERO interceptions. That's exactly what you want from a veteran backup.

2. Jefferson is BACK as the difference-maker. 8 catches, 92 yards, 2 TDs, and Wentz immediately trusted him in the biggest moments. Hockenson added another TD. That connection gives this offense something to build around regardless of who is at QB.

3. This team showed some serious fight. Down 22–10 late in the third, Minnesota ripped off 29 unanswered points. The defense forced two huge late turnovers, the running game produced two TDs, and all three phases contributed. They didn't just survive Murray going down — they took the game over.

Big picture: Green Bay actually out-gained Minnesota 419–239, so there are definitely things to clean up. But winning 39–22 against Green Bay after losing your starting QB in the first quarter tells me this Vikings team has depth and some guts.

SKOL!

— Toby in Alaska (AK FAN)

The combo of Jefferson and Hockenson was extremely efficient. The two combined for 12 catches, 128 yards and three scores on 14 targets.

Being able to attack different parts of the field bodes well.

It might be today or later this week before there is more clarity on Murray's status.

The resolve shown by the Vikings was impressive, and there were multiple instances in the locker room of coaches and players talking about how the crowd support was felt on Minnesota's sideline during the comeback.

Watching this game with my Packers fan brother was difficult until Matt LaFleur decided to take points off the board. At that point, the game became fun again. It's a win, but we honestly played horribly until the final 7-8 minutes. Much like Texas over Ohio State. We were out-coached on both sides of the ball, so to walk away with a win was amazing. I was most disappointed in our defense. We can't expect to win when we're lining up 10+ yards off the line and giving their receivers open lanes. WAY too often they had wide open receivers, and it hurt. Offensively we didn't fair too much better until the end. Kyler getting hurt didn't come as much of a surprise, and I'm glad Carson managed the rest of the game well. Where was Jordan Addison and Jauan Jennings? I think Jordan had one or two targets, and I don't believe Jennings had any thrown his way. Where's the offense? It's a win, and I'm glad, but we have a lot to work on.

SKOL

— J.B. Brunet

The Packers are a good team, for sure, and Green Bay was without Micah Parsons, who might have made a comeback like Minnesota enjoyed less possible.

I thought Love played really well early on, using his mobility to elude some pretty tough pressures, buying time for plays to develop and delivering the ball well when on the move.

Addison was targeted two times, and Jennings was targeted just once (it happened on the interception thrown by Murray). Neither recorded a catch, but Minnesota opted to go with some heavier personnel groupings that utilized two tight ends or rookie fullback Max Bredeson instead of 11 personnel.

We did not start well. I was concerned with how many wide-open receivers the Packers had in the beginning. We came alive in the fourth quarter. We dialed it up. We will make the playoffs if we played like we did in the fourth.

Murray took a cheap shot to the head causing him to leave the game. The player that delivered the cheap hit should have to sit as long as the player that received it. What are your thoughts?

— Gerald Goblirsch

It was really unfortunate to see the amount of contact on Murray when he was clearly giving himself up. The play was flagged for a 15-yard penalty, and the NFL will review it to evaluate whether it issues a fine or fines. Those structures of penalization are probably going to be where things stay.

I looked at this game in terms of rosters and actually told several of my Packers fan friends that if the Vikings didn't win and win by 20, I'd be disappointed. No Josh Jacobs. No Micah Parsons. An unproven secondary. An untested offensive line. Home crowd. Mostly healthy Viking players. Still, it's Week 1, and that's always an extra wild card. Plus, it's a division game. That's always extra spice.

The Vikings looked outcoached in the first half. Green Bay made timely plays and seemed to anticipate Vikings moves. Didn't seem like our day.

And then.

LaFleur took 3 points off the board and went for a fourth-down conversion. The "Big Mo" called momentum swung Purple and never swung back.

I am so impressed with the team discipline. Very few Vikings penalties. And after the Kyler pick, Vikings ball security got prioritized. Those two qualities speak to coaching. Kudos K.O. and assistants.

To nit-pick, kick coverage could have been better. Offensive line assignments were blown and blown up. And Wentz missed some key throws. But overall, kick coverage, OL play and Wentz QB play had more pluses than minuses.

Finally, a Vikings kicker was a strongly positive story in this game. Let's not gloss over that fact with this fan base.

On to Chicago.

Skol!

— Jeff in Sacramento, California

It's really hard to win in the NFL by 20-plus points, even if there were three such instances so far in Week 1, with tonight's game between the Broncos and Chiefs set to close out Kickoff Weekend.

Division rivals have great familiarity with each other, and no team will ever have more time to prepare for a foe than it does heading into Kickoff Weekend. The Packers zapped the Vikings on a few plays, and Minnesota did the same to Green Bay.

The Vikings committed just three penalties for 15 yards, compared to the Packers having 98 yards assessed over the course of 12 accepted infractions.

Will Reichard picked up where he left off from his 2025 First-Team All-Pro season by going 5-for-5 on extra points and a 38-yard field goal.

Kyler Murray was 100% not impressive. Carson Wentz wasn't that good. The offensive line was bad. Defense couldn't disrupt Jordan Love. The back end couldn't cover anyone. And then the fourth quarter happened. If the fourth quarter Vikings are the team we will see every week, they could be a really scary team.

The offense got going; Wentz got better protection. The running game was efficient. The defense was stifling. Dallas Turner is a problem. And Gink' is awesome!

Lastly, please bring back the Sounds of the Game or Field Access feature after wins!!

— Roman B. (Optimistic in Grand Forks, North Dakota)

I'd like to take an opportunity to highlight Turner, here. There was considerable consternation by some emailers in this space over the past two seasons when the 2024 first-round pick was behind Pro Bowlers Van Ginkel and Jonathan Greenard on the depth chart.

Turner made the most of his debut as a Week 1 starter, an opportunity created during the draft when Minnesota traded Greenard.

He recorded seven — yes, SEVEN! — of Minnesota's 15 QB hits on Sunday. If that sounds like a lot, it's because it is the most by a Viking in a game since the NFL started tracking that stat in 2006.

According to Next Gen Stats, Turner finished with a career-high 10 pressures, including seven that were in under 2.5 seconds, which tied Cashman for the most in the league through the Sunday afternoon slate.

I don't want to humble brag, but I might have turned to Vikings.com's Lindsey Young and Rob Kleifield Sunday and told them I thought a big play from Gink' was on the way. And the outside linebacker and first-time captain delivered the forced fumble on the very next snap.

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