Minnesota Vikings Open Season With Huge Win Over Packers

As far as opening acts go, this one was a winner. The Minnesota Vikings and rookie head coach Kevin O’Connell welcomed the defending NFC North champion Green Bay Packers to the US Bank Stadium and handed the visitors a 23-7 beating that was satisfying in so many ways.

The game and the team’s execution was quite a bit different than the team’s fans had been used to seeing in the latter years of the Mike Zimmer regime.

It started off with the game’s opening possession, when the Vikings went the length of the field and showed the kind of diversified play calling that left their opponents on their heels.

The Vikings scored on a 10-play, 78-yard drive that culminated with Kirk Cousins throwing a five-yard TD pass to Justin Jefferson. Instead of playing predictable, tentative football has often been the case, the Vikings asserted themselves.

Cousins (23-of-32 for 277 yards, 2 TDs, 0 interceptions) has regularly fallen short in big games throughout his tenure with the Vikings, but he looked bold and confident against Green Bay. Jefferson (9-184-2) may very well make good on his desire to become the No. 1 receiver in the league, as the Packers simply could stop him from making big plays.

The Vikings have an array of star players in Cousins, Jefferson, running back Dalvin Cook, wideout Adam Thielen, safety Harrison Smith, and edge rushers Za’Darius Smith and Danielle Hunter. Every one of them played like stars in the opener and the Packers had no answers.

Jefferson’s performance lit the fuse for the rest of the team. O’Connell praised the receiver for understanding the challenge and being fully prepared to do whatever was asked of him. “I credit Justin for being able to handle a lot,” O’Connell said. “We move him around a lot. We ask him to play multiple spots. He is not just an X receiver. And our receivers play a complementary role in helping Justin get open.”

Even though Zimmer was one of the top defensive minds in the NFL, the Vikings had fallen woefully short on that side of the ball in 2020 and ’21. This year’s version has a chance to be quite a bit better. Instead of letting Aaron Rodgers throw the ball around the filed with impunity, the Vikings harassed him and sacked him four times and intercepted him once. Rodgers passed for just 195 yards, and he was continually frustrated by defensive coordinator Ed Donatell’s gameplan.

The Vikings were the tougher and more determined team, something that was rarely the case in recent years. While the Packers have often had their way in trips to US Bank Stadium, the visitors looked confused and beleaguered by the way their opponents attacked.

Perhaps the Packers were expecting to see a Vikings team that fell behind and tried to play catch-up football. That may have been the team’s primary way of doing business in the past, but the 2022 team wants to dictate the pace and make opponents react to the way they execute their game plan.

That’s how excellent teams go about their business. It’s not about reacting to an opponent; it’s about going out every week, establishing a strength, and building off of it. That’s how teams establish an identity and get better as the season progresses.

One game does not a season make, and the Vikings will have another difficult assignment when they travel to Philadelphia September 19 to face the Eagles on Monday Night Football. The prime-time stage has been a difficult one for the Vikings in the past, and the Eagles appear to have a dangerous offensive team after scoring 38 points in their season-opening win against the Detroit Lions.

But an important statement has been made by the coaching staff and the team’s best players. Cousins looked like a quarterback who is worth his $35 million salary, and that’s not something that has been said on a regular basis. Jefferson may be the best game-breaking receiver in the league, Thielen is a dangerous red zone performer and Cook can punish opponents with his speed and finishing ability.

On defense, Hunter and Za’Darius Smith have a chance to become a formidable pass-rush duo. Both players had sacks in the opener and Harrison Smith had an interception.

Suddenly, the Vikings look like a team that could mesh this season and cause problems for every opponent. That would be a wonderful turn of events for a team that has disappointed so many times.