Dallas Turner has officially become a nightmare for Vikings opponents

Back in April, the Minnesota Vikings made the decision to trade Pro Bowl edge rusher Jonathan Greenard to the Philadelphia Eagles. The Vikings' trade put the spotlight on Dallas Turner to take Greenard's place, and two games into the 2026 campaign, the third-year edge rusher is making Minnesota look incredibly smart.

After beginning the season with nine pressures and a sack in the Vikings' win over the Green Bay Packers last week, Turner followed that performance up with 10 more pressures, two sacks, and four tackles in the Vikings' 9-3 victory over the Chicago Bears on Sunday.

Turner was giving the Bears' blockers nightmares all game long, and he placed a massive exclamation point on his day by sacking Chicago quarterback Tyson Bageant on the final play of the matchup to seal the win for Minnesota.

Dallas Turner "keeps showing up" for the Vikings in 2026

Some likely assumed it would take a bit for Turner to adjust to being a starter for the Vikings this season, but he hasn't wasted a second of his time on the field this year.

He has now fully emerged as a player that opposing teams will have to game plan for heading into every matchup with Minnesota this season. If they don't, then Turner will just do what he's already done so far this year and be a quarterback's worst nightmare.

When talking about the final drive of Sunday's win over the Bears, Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell couldn't help but smile when talking about Turner's sack on the last play of regulation.

"DT, man, DT just keeps showing up."

Who will Dallas Turner get to terrorize next?

Looking ahead, the 2026 schedule has Minnesota taking on the 0-2 Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the 0-2 Miami Dolphins, and the 1-1 New Orleans Saints in their next three games.

In the first two weeks of the season, the Bucs have allowed 21 pressures and two sacks, the Dolphins have allowed 25 pressures and four sacks, and the Saints have allowed 31 pressures and five sacks, according to data from PFF.

On his own, Turner has generated 19 pressures and three sacks this season, and there don't seem to be any signs of him slowing down.

Following Sunday's victory, Turner talked about how he's been working hard for a long time to perform at the level that he's currently playing at this year.

"Just preparing myself for these moments, ever since I was in college, I feel like it's very important [to] just keep on showing up every single day to execute at a high level.

Turner's hard work is definitely paying off during Minnesota's first two games of the season, and if the Vikings are going to make any sort of noise in 2026, he's likely going to play a large role in that happening.

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