"It's a marathon, not a sprint."

You've most likely heard or even used this metaphor at some point; while it's a little cliché, its purpose is to shift someone's perspective from short-term urgency to long-term sustainability and serve as a useful reminder to pace yourself.

Good luck telling NFL offenses that, especially after a historic opening week to the 2026 regular season.

The initial strides out of the season's starting blocks looked more like ones belonging in a 100-meter dash than a 26.2-mile race, particularly from a scoring standpoint. The 32 teams combined to rack up 791 total points, matching the highest-scoring Week 1 since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger with an average of 49.4 points per game, per NFL research. Nearly a third of the league (10 teams) scored 30-plus points, tying for the third-most ever in Week 1, trailing the 1986 (12 teams) and 2002 (11) seasons.

It didn't look like the Minnesota Vikings were going to be part of that exclusive club in the early stages of their season opener against the Green Bay Packers on Sunday. Minnesota's opening offensive possession lasted just two plays, the latter of which resulting in an interception on Kyler Murray's first regular-season pass attempt as a Viking. Unfortunately for the Vikings, Murray’s debut in purple didn't last much longer before he was ruled out due to a concussion he suffered at the end of a scramble.

But here's where the metaphor truly applies. Despite the loss of Murray, the Vikings continued to grind and stay within striking distance, as they trailed 22-10 with 5:09 left in the third quarter. Then, Minnesota unleashed a fourth-quarter flurry for the ages; the Vikings scored 29 unanswered points – 22 coming in the final 15 minutes of game action – to earn an incredible 39-22 victory.

The historic comeback (more on that below) not only gave Minnesota its sixth consecutive victory dating back to last season, but it also helped the Vikings move up in this week's Power Rankings, with the biggest jump being six spots.

Here's a look at where the Vikings landed heading into Week 2:

No. 22 (down 3 spots): Nick Shook – NFL.com

The Vikings found a way to turn what was trending toward an ugly, disheartening season opener into a 17-point triumph. The result still seems absurd to me, given that the Packers led by 12 points late in the third quarter, but Brian Flores' defense (along with some penalties by the opposition) can swing a game that quickly. Now the Vikings have to hope Kyler Murray can return before long.

No. 15 (up 6 spots): Kris Knox – Bleacher Report

This Vikings team is going to be a threat in the NFC if it can get steady quarterback play — regardless of which signal-caller provides it.

Carson Wentz largely played the game-manager role in relief of Kyler Murray (concussion). However, he put the ball in the end zone and allowed Minnesota's defense to take over the game instead of just keeping the team in it. Of course, one impressive win won't be enough to launch the Vikings toward the top of our power rankings.

No. 13 (up 5 spots): Pete Prisco – CBS Sports

That was a heck of a comeback against the Packers. The defense led the way.

No. 16 (up 2 spots): Nate Davis – USA Today

The bad news? Quarterback disarray remains the baseline here. The good news? Resurgent WR Justin Jefferson has already matched his 2025 TD total (2).

No. 15 (up 4 spots): Josh Kendall and Chad Graff – The Athletic

[Minnesota Defensive Coordinator Brian Flores] sent blitzes on 74 percent of the Packers dropbacks and totally overwhelmed their offensive line late as the Vikings put together an impressive comeback win with backup quarterback Carson Wentz leading the offense.

No. 15 (up 4 spots): Conor Orr – Sports Illustrated

With the most baseline of quarterback play, this team is a legitimate playoff threat whose defense is still spry enough to wreak havoc. They should definitely call Jimmy Garoppolo, though.

No. 15 (up 4 spots): Vinnie Iyer – Sporting News

The Vikings quarterback plans were disrupted when Kyler Murray went down early with a concussion, but they were fortunate to find a winning backup in Carson Wentz taking advantage of the "real" Justin Jefferson. Brian Flores' defense is still the backbone.

No. 17 (up 1 spot): Frank Schwab – Yahoo! Sports

The Vikings won and that's a great way to start the season, but it's not like they played well. They were outgained 419-239. The Packers had 6.3 yards per play to just 3.9 for the Vikings. Minnesota won a game in which it lost Kyler Murray in the first quarter to a concussion, so squeezing out a victory is still a very good result, but improvement needs to be made, and a lot of that will depend on Murray's status.

Victory Served Rare

Sunday's win was unique for a lot of reasons. For starters, the 39 points scored by Minnesota are the third most the team has scored in Week 1 in team history (47 in 1968 and 40 in 1976). The outcome of 39-22 produced a SCORIGAMI – the 1,097th unique score in NFL history and already the second of the 2026 campaign (if you're wondering who had the other one this week, it involves the Vikings next opponent).

This isn't the first time Minnesota and Green Bay have been involved in a SCORIGAMI this decade. The most recent instance came exactly six years to the day prior to Sunday's contest, a 43-34 victory for the Packers in a crowd-less U.S. Bank Stadium due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Minnesota's victory also marked just the fourth time in franchise history where the team has trailed by 12-plus points and won by double digits. The previous trio of such instances were:

– Nov. 8, 1999 vs. Dallas (Minnesota trailed 17-0 in the second quarter and won 27-17).

– Jan. 9, 2022 vs. Chicago (Minnesota trailed 14-0 in the second quarter and won 31-17).

– Sept. 13, 1987 vs. Detroit (Minnesota trailed 16-3 in the second quarter and won 34-19).

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