The Minnesota Vikings kicked off the Kevin O’Connell era with a victory over the hated Green Bay Packers on Sunday.
In one of their most anticipated regular-season openers in a long time, the Minnesota Vikings began the 2022 campaign with a very convincing win over the Green Bay Packers.
The Kevin O’Connell era for the Vikings really couldn’t have begun any better as the purple and gold got off to a blazing fast start and never looked back. When the final whistle blew on Sunday, Minnesota left the field with a 23-7 win over the Packers.
We’ll have more time to examine the Vikings‘ performance during the next few days, but what are some of the immediate reactions to their victory this week?
Quick thoughts on the Vikings win over the Packers
Jefferson starts 2022 on fire: It only took one drive for Justin Jefferson to remind everyone why he is one of the best wide receivers in the NFL.
Jefferson caught a touchdown pass on Minnesota’s opening drive against the Packers and he added another score in the second quarter. In the first half alone, he hauled in six catches for 158 yards and two touchdowns.
Jefferson finished the day with nine catches for 184 yards and two touchdowns. Good luck to the rest of the league when trying to cover him this year.
Smith quickly makes his mark: A big story heading into Sunday had to do with Vikings outside linebacker Za’Darius Smith facing his former team. Smith didn’t waste any time against the Packers as he was able to sack Aaron Rodgers in the first quarter.
Smith led a Minnesota pass rush that pressured Rodgers all day long as they finished with four sacks and five quarterback hits.
More quick thoughts from Minnesota’s win over Green Bay
It’s always fun to frustrate Rodgers: For the last few months, Aaron Rodgers has dominated the headlines for a bunch of reasons that made many just roll their eyes at the sound of his voice. So to see him struggle and get frustrated by the Vikings’ defense on Sunday was incredibly enjoyable.
Rodgers is the two-time reigning NFL MVP, but he wasn’t even close to being the best quarterback on the field in Minnesota this weekend.
Ingram reminds people he’s a rookie: This summer, rookie Ed Ingram was able to beat out veteran Jesse Davis for Minnesota’s starting right guard job. While it’s impressive that Ingram was able to win a starting job as a rookie, he proved on Sunday that he still has plenty of work to do.
Early in the game, Kirk Cousins was sacked, and it was by a Packers player that Ingram was supposed to be blocking. He also gave up multiple pressures to Green Bay defenders during the matchup.
The Vikings rookie had some good moments as a run blocker on Sunday, but he still has a lot to improve upon as a pass blocker.
Joseph continues his hot streak: Minnesota kicker Greg Joseph performed very well during the team’s training camp and preseason this summer, and on Sunday, he continued to perform at a high level.
Joseph converted all of his extra-point tries and all of his field-goal attempts against the Packers, including a 56-yard field goal in the third quarter.
Cook quietly has a nice day: Most of the attention after Sunday’s game will likely be on Justin Jefferson (rightfully so), but Vikings running back Dalvin Cook had a performance against Green Bay that deserves some praise too.
Cook rushed for 90 yards on 20 attempts, and he caught three passes for 18 yards. He is still very much a part of Minnesota’s new offense.
Even more quick thoughts from Minnesota’s win over Green Bay
Cousins looks unbelievably efficient: Kirk Cousins was already a very accurate quarterback before Kevin O’Connell became the Vikings head coach this year. But in O’Connell’s offense, it seems like Cousins is using his accuracy in a more efficient way.
The Minnesota quarterback completed 71.9 percent of his passes, he averaged 8.7 yards per pass attempt on Sunday, and the majority of his targets went to his wide receivers.
It resulted in him throwing for 277 yards, two touchdowns, and no interceptions against the Packers. If Cousins can play like this consistently for the rest of the season, he could be in for a career year.
New defense has a good debut: Despite Mike Zimmer being the team’s head coach, the Vikings’ defense was one of the team’s biggest problems of the last two seasons.
This year, Minnesota switched to a new scheme under new defensive coordinator Ed Donatell, and after Week 1, things appear to be heading in the right direction.
The Vikings pressured Aaron Rodgers all day long and they completely shut down Green Bay’s passing attack. Minnesota’s offense will get a lot of love on Monday, but the defense deserves plenty of praise as well.
O’Connell is undefeated: Kevin O’Connell probably couldn’t have imagined his first regular-season game as the head coach of the Vikings going much better than it went on Sunday.
From the opening kickoff, Minnesota seemed extremely prepared for their big divisional matchup with the Packers, and that is a credit to O’Connell and the rest of his coaching staff.
Yes, it’s only one game, but it’s hard for Vikings fans not to be excited about the team’s future after their big win over Green Bay on Sunday.
Week 2 expects to be a big test: While defeating last season’s No. 1 seed in the NFC this weekend was exciting, the Vikings getting a win next week might end up being even more impressive.
In Week 2, Minnesota has a Monday-night road matchup against the Philadelphia Eagles. The Eagles are expected to be one of the best teams in the NFC this season, and they’re coming off a road victory over the up-and-coming Detroit Lions.
If the Vikings can leave the field next Monday with a 2-0 record, many people will likely take them a lot more seriously as a contender this season.