ONE AND WHOA

VIKINGS 39

PACKERS 22

The Vikings opened their 2026 season by beating the Packers by 17 points. You might think that means the Vikings kind of dominated the game. But oh, how that wasn't the case. These two teams have played each other 132 times, and this has to go down as one of the goofiest, weirdest entries. 

If you believe in omens, the Vikings season couldn't have begun much worse. On the opening drive, on Kyler Murray's 1st pass, he threw a hideous lob ball interception, firing up all the smelly Packers fans who infiltrated the purple palace. 

The Packers didn't move the ball, but their rookie kicker (named Smack) hit a long field goal. The rest of a bad first quarter saw the Vikings fall behind further, as Christian Watson had an 81-yard catch and run touchdown through a Vikings secondary that spent much of the day looking hideous.

Following that TD came the biggest blow. On a scramble, Murray slid down and got hit (illegally) by two Packers. The good news is it got flagged. The bad news was that Murray was concussed, and out of the game. 

So after a whole offseason waiting to see if Murray could be the Vikings' latest successful QB reclamation, he's already gone, and in comes Carson Wentz. Wentz was able to finish the drive with points, a Will Reichard field goal. 

The Packers answered with a long kick return that set up a field goal. Most of the remaining half was played in the muck. The Vikings offense wasn't doing a thing. The line wasn't blocking, and Wentz was looking incredibly tentative, weirdly pump faking all the time. We had one big play where Aaron Jones broke off about a 50 yard run, but the always selectively used "replay assist" ruled Jones down by contact, even though at least a half dozen in-house replays showed him not down. 

The Vikings offense did spring to some life late in the half. Wentz started finding receivers, then on a free play took a deep shot to Justin Jefferson for a fantastic touchdown. It was Justin's 1st home TD since 2024. 

The momentum was quickly erased by the defense, which let Love go right down the field on us (including a very bad dropped pick by Isaiah Rodgets) and score 7 back before halftime. 

Little changed after the break. The Packers got some more wide open receivers and drove to a field goal to pad the lead to 12. 

The game officially started swinging our way when Myles Price had his 1st major kick return to set the Vikings up just outside the redzone. A few plays later, Wentz zipped a touchdown to TJ Hockenson. 

Still, the defense didn't look up to the challenge, as Green Bay again drove down the field and looked like they were going to score again. Credit to the Flores unit, though, cause they did hold them to a field goal try which was good. Oh, but Dallas Turner was offsides on the kick.

Here, Matt LaFleur made the key decision of the game. With it now 4th and 1, he opted to take the 3 off the board and go for the 7. I actually don't think it was a bad idea. It just didn't work. Love tried a sneak and was stuffed by Big Citrus.

So now for the first time the Vikings had the ball in the 2nd half with a chance to go take the lead. This drive will be whined about by Packers fans for years. Wentz was sacked on consecutive plays, but on the 2nd the Packers were correctly flagged for illegal contact. Then a 3rd down Wentz incompletion was wiped out by a roughing the passer, the part of that rule that exists because of Aaron Rodgers whining about that Anthony Barr hit years ago. Jordan Mason broke a run into the redzone. Wentz threw an interception in the endzone, but before it happened the Packers were flagged once again, this time for holding (Hockenson was basically tackled). Finally Aaron Jones scooted around the left side for a touchdown that put the Vikings in the lead for the first time. 

Whine away, Packah fans. All those penalties were legit. The refs even missed an obvious helmet grab on Jefferson. Hearing that fanbase whine about refs is the most tasty irony.

And that Vikings defense? Holy shit did they show up. After the Jones TD there were still over 6 minutes left, so we were not safe. Also not safe anymore was Jordan Love. Turner burst through for a sack and fumble, jumped on by a lineman. The next play was pure destruction, as Love was consumed in seconds by the tag team of Andrew Van Ginkel and Blake Cashman, again causing a fumble that Gink brought to the 1. Mason quickly ran it in and that was pretty much ballgame. 

But the Vikings defense, now a buzzsaw, was not satisfied. They pressured Love into an interception by James Pierre, which set up a 2nd Justin Jefferson touchdown, and the celebration was on. Most of the Packers fans were filing out before this. Rumor is that the tears of Packers fans were so plentiful that eastbound 94 out of the state got a little slippery.

This was a stunning reversal, a game that was not just looking like a loss, but one raising serious long-term questions morphing into a belt to ass demolition the other way. I've seen bigger comebacks (33-0, anyone?) but this game swung so completely and so quickly that it was hard to process.

The euphoria of winning a game like this against a hated rival covers up a lot of ick. 

Seeing this defense turn it on like they did alleviates some concerns, although what of all those wide open receivers?

And what about the QB? Murray's few minutes were awful, but the whole team looked so bad for 3 quarters maybe it wasn't just him. He'll be back, but maybe not right away. Wentz shook off his own early struggles and I feel pretty safe with him under center (although we are now one more injury from seeing you know who again), but can he do this for a whole season? 

Hey, worries for another time. For now let us bask in one of the funnest wins of the KOC era and laugh at the cheeseheads.