Carson Wentz, who'd thrown five preseason passes all summer, ran the offense with the poise of someone who'd been the starter the whole time — 12 of 19 for 133 yards and 3 touchdowns, including two to Justin Jefferson and a 2-point conversion that gave Minnesota its first lead of the night at 25-22 with 6:37 to go. Green Bay's own absences told on the other side of the ball: Micah Parsons opened the season on PUP rehabbing his ACL, and left guard Aaron Banks — who coach Matt LaFleur said had "made progress" but "wasn't ready" — sat out the opener too.
For a half, none of that mattered. Jordan Love hit Christian Watson for an 81-yard catch-and-run and a 2-yard fade with 14 seconds left before intermission, and Green Bay walked into the locker room up 19-10 on the strength of Watson's 131 receiving yards. The board hadn't priced a Packers team missing its best pass rusher walking into U.S. Bank Stadium with a 2-score halftime lead, and for 30 minutes that team looked like the better one.
The fourth quarter is where it came apart for Green Bay. Up 22-19 with 13:17 left, LaFleur waved off a Trey Smack field goal after a Vikings offside penalty and went for it instead — Love was stuffed on a sneak he later admitted he'd have called differently. Minnesota took the lead on the Wentz-to-Jefferson conversion, then a strip-sack pinned Green Bay at its own 1-yard line and set up a Jordan Mason touchdown, and a tipped ball off Harrison Smith's hands fell into James Pierre's arms for the pick that set up a 9-yard Jefferson score to close it out. Twenty-nine unanswered points, two turnovers, one four-minute stretch.
Jefferson finished with 8 catches for 92 yards and 2 touchdowns regardless of who was throwing him the ball, while Jordan Addison never got going against a Green Bay secondary that had bigger problems elsewhere. On the other side, Love's final line — 21 of 42 for 387 yards with 2 touchdowns — reads like a big day undone by the two turnovers that came right when Green Bay needed the ball back most. The Packers open a season with real Super Bowl-or-bust expectations already answering questions about their pass rush and a run game that managed 37 yards on 13 carries without Josh Jacobs; the Vikings, whatever happens with Murray's concussion protocol, now know their backup plan works.