The Minnesota Vikings opened their 2026 season with one of the wildest comebacks of Week 1, rallying from a 12-point deficit to beat the Green Bay Packers 39-22 at U.S. Bank Stadium on Sunday. The win extended Minnesota’s win streak over its NFC North rival to two games and kept the Vikings undefeated to start the year.
Final Score: Vikings 39, Packers 22
Green Bay looked in control for most of the afternoon, building a 22-10 lead in the third quarter. Then everything unraveled. Minnesota reeled off 29 unanswered points down the stretch, turning a laugher into a statement win.
Carson Wentz Steps Up After Kyler Murray’s Injury
The story of the game was backup quarterback Carson Wentz. Brought in to mentor Minnesota’s young quarterbacks after Kyler Murray and J.J. McCarthy battled for the starting job in camp, Wentz instead found himself thrust into action when Murray suffered a first-quarter concussion in his Vikings debut.
Wentz delivered. The 11th-year veteran went 12-of-19 for 133 yards and three touchdowns, posting a 123.5 passer rating in relief duty. He connected with Justin Jefferson twice through the air and hit T.J. Hockenson for a third score, also linking up with Jefferson on a two-point conversion that gave Minnesota its first lead of the game.
“That’s why he’s here,” head coach Kevin O’Connell said after the game. “For him to come in and do what he did and just be part of that calming presence that allowed our team to continue playing, I can’t say enough about him.”
How the Comeback Unfolded
Green Bay’s collapse in the second half started with a costly special-teams sequence. With Minnesota trailing 22-17 late in the third quarter, the Packers had a field goal wiped off the board due to a Vikings offside penalty, handing Green Bay a fourth-and-1 instead. The ensuing quarterback sneak was stuffed, keeping the Vikings alive.
From there, Minnesota took over. A go-ahead touchdown drive — aided by three Green Bay penalties that erased what should have been third-down stops — gave the Vikings a 25-22 lead after the two-point conversion, their first advantage of the day. Green Bay’s offense then unraveled on back-to-back possessions: quarterback Jordan Love was strip-sacked on one drive and threw an interception, tipped twice before landing in Minnesota territory, on the next.
Minnesota capitalized on the turnovers to salt the game away, closing out a 29-0 run to finish the contest.
Key Stats and Standouts
Minnesota Vikings
- Carson Wentz: 12-of-19, 133 yards, 3 TD, 123.5 passer rating
- Justin Jefferson: 8 catches, 92 yards, 1 TD
- T.J. Hockenson: 4 catches, 36 yards, 1 TD
- Jordan Mason: 14 carries, 59 yards
- Aaron Jones: 12 carries, 40 yards
- Vikings converted 8 of 15 third-down attempts
Green Bay Packers
- Jordan Love: turned the ball over twice in the fourth quarter (fumble on a sack, interception)
- MarShawn Lloyd: 13 carries, 37 yards
- Chris Brooks: 7 carries, 29 yards
What It Means
For the Vikings, the win is a resume-builder for Wentz and a reminder of the kind of experience O’Connell wanted on the roster as insurance behind Murray and McCarthy. Jefferson’s two-touchdown day also matched his entire 2025 season total in receiving scores, an early sign he could be in for a bounce-back year.
For Green Bay, the loss stings. A 12-point lead evaporated thanks to untimely penalties and turnovers at the worst possible moments — the kind of self-inflicted mistakes that will worry Packers fans heading into Week 2, even with Love otherwise playing efficient football against a defense that blitzed relentlessly.
The Packers and Vikings are scheduled to meet again on November 15, with Minnesota looking to extend its win streak in the rivalry to three.
Packers vs. Vikings Series History
- All-time series: Packers lead 67-62-3
- Current streak: Vikings, 2 games (2025-present)
- Next meeting: November 15, 2026
