For three quarters, the Minnesota Vikings looked a lot like they did in the 2025 season. But after a slow start and an injury to Kyler Murray, Minnesota answered the bell, scoring 15 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to earn a 39-22 victory over the Green Bay Packers on Sunday afternoon.
The win was not pretty, but it was a palate cleanser for a team that needed some good vibes coming off last year’s disappointment.
Like any game, there are plenty of things to take away, and there are seven key points that Vikings fans can observe after claiming a win over their hated division rivals.
Instant reactions after the Minnesota Vikings’ Week 1 win over the Green Bay Packers
Vikings were right to make Carson Wentz their QB2
For all the drama that surrounded the quarterback position this summer, the backup quarterback spot was a surprising development.
Some fans expected J.J. McCarthy to be the backup after he lost the starting job to Kyler Murray, but O’Connell had other ideas, naming Wentz his QB2 and McCarthy the third-string quarterback earlier in the week.
That decision wasn’t validated by stats, as Wentz finished completing 12-of-19 passes for 133 yards and three touchdowns. But he did provide the baseline of quarterback play that O’Connell had been talking about throughout the offseason.
The proof came on a free play in the second quarter when Wentz didn’t panic and threw a 39-yard touchdown to Justin Jefferson, and it happened again when Wentz found T.J. Hockenson for a 16-yard touchdown to keep the Vikings in the game in the third quarter.
After taking over on a turnover on downs late in the fourth quarter, Wentz orchestrated a nine-play, 83-yard drive that finished with a three-yard touchdown run by Aaron Jones to give Minnesota the lead for good.
Kyler Murray’s Vikings tenure may have ended before it began
Wentz’s emergence came at the expense of Murray’s injury in the first quarter. The Vikings came into this season pinning their hopes on Murray, but O’Connell’s vision of what he could become caught on fire in the first quarter.
Murray threw an interception to Keisean Nixon on his first pass as the starter, and Minnesota’s offense never looked in sync, committing a pair of negative runs and a pair of false start penalties on his first two drives, per ESPN’s Kevin Seifert.
Just when you thought it couldn’t get worse, Murray was knocked out of the game on a helmet-to-helmet hit from Javon Bullard. Although it may be premature to believe that Murray will never start a game for the Vikings again, he is signed to a one-year contract, meaning he was always in a “prove-it” situation.
The first quarter performance may not have helped his cause, and while it’s likely he’ll be the starter when he returns, Wentz could take the starting job and run with it if he plays well and keeps winning while Murray is on the shelf.
Vikings definitely needed Harrison Smith to come back
Smith’s return for a 15th season drew plenty of hype, and he told CBS’s Tracy Wolfson that it will be his last season. But despite being 37 years old, Smith is as important as ever based on the secondary’s performance against the Packers.
PFF noted that Smith only played 16 snaps in Sunday’s game, but he finished with a tackle, two pressures, and almost had an interception that bounced off his hands and into the arms of James Pierre late in the fourth quarter.
It was also noticeable when he wasn’t on the field, as the Vikings allowed an 81-yard touchdown pass from Jordan Love to Christian Watson while he was on the bench in the second quarter.
The Vikings’ defense has plenty of work to do after allowing Love to throw for 387 yards and a pair of touchdowns. But as Smith works his way back into game shape, he’ll be a valuable asset to Flores’s defense despite his advanced age.
Dallas Turner looks ready for his breakout
One of the biggest non-quarterback questions for the Vikings was how they would replace Jonathan Greenard after his trade to the Philadelphia Eagles.
Turner was promoted to the starting lineup as a result of the trade, and he started off his new role by having a massive impact, finishing with a team-high seven pressures and a sack on 28 pass-rushing snaps per PFF.
Turner’s presence grew as the game went on, and he looked a lot like the player the Vikings had traded away this offseason. If Sunday’s performance is a foreshadowing of things to come, Turner could be in for a breakout campaign.
Will Fries made the Vikings 2025 free agent class look like an even bigger disaster.
Former general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah looked to patch the holes in the Vikings roster during the 2025 offseason, spending $269.5 million in total contract value during free agency, according to Spotrac. But Minnesota clearly hasn’t gotten what it paid for in Will Fries.
Fries made the 2025 free agent class look like an even bigger disaster on Sunday, posting a 60.0 overall grade and allowing three pressures and a sack according to PFF.
Only Blake Brandel had a lower overall grade (52.0) among Vikings starters, and Fries didn’t look like the player who earned a five-year, $87.7 million deal in free agency.
It’s only one game, but if Fries can’t clean things up, it’s possible they could wind up with the same fate as fellow 2025 free-agent busts, including Jonathan Allen, Javon Hargrave, and Ryan Kelly.
Vikings' running game came in the clutch late
The Vikings spent most of the offseason bragging about their revamped running game, but it didn’t put up big numbers on Sunday with 107 yards on 34 carries (3.14 yards per carry).
While there wasn’t efficiency, O’Connell stuck with it and was rewarded at the end of the game with a 28-yard run by Mason that set up a go-ahead touchdown by Aaron Jones and another rushing touchdown after a fumble by Love that put the game away with 4:48 to play.
Murray could probably have helped the running game put up even bigger numbers, but it still did its job late in the game. If the Vikings are going to run the ball with this much volume, the big gains will come, and it could add a missing piece to O’Connell’s offense.
Justin Jefferson is back to his elite form
Out of all the things to take away from Sunday’s win, this might be the biggest. Jefferson put a lot of fantasy football players in Waffle Houses after a disappointing 2025 campaign, but he looked like his dominant self in the season-opening victory.
Jefferson finished with eight catches for 92 yards and a pair of touchdowns, and he was a key focal point that gave the Packers’ secondary fits on Sunday afternoon.
The production could be as simple as getting a better quarterback under center. But after his first touchdowns at U.S. Bank Stadium since December 2024, Jefferson looks poised to have a bigger year and help carry the Vikings as they head deeper into the season.
Add us as a preferred source on Google