It isn’t enough for this to be the opening weekend in the NFL. No, the Minnesota Vikings will host the Green Bay Packers to start the new era. Roger Goodell even scheduled the game at 3:25 p.m. to give fans extra time to hydrate.
We finally get to see new head coach Kevin O’Connell‘s team in action. We were given next to nothing in the preseason, watching the most vanilla of vanilla games play out for three weeks. Hopefully, this lulled Matt LaFleur and Co. to sleep, allowing an offensive onslaught.
Week 1 is a chance for the Vikings to make a statement. Still, you don’t want to waste a season’s worth of energy on one game. Let’s not forget that the New Orleans Saints pummeled the Packers, 38-3, at a neutral-site game in Week 1. Green Bay would rebound, of course, and secure the NFC’s top playoff spot. The Saints missed the playoffs for the first time since 2016, which is okay with me.
But it’s no secret that beating the Packers is different for Vikings fans. We’ve had to hear about their Hall of Fame quarterbacks and their four Super Bowl wins forever. They will even occasionally mention the nine other championships that occurred around the time that Moses parted the Red Sea. In Minnesota, several generations of fans are vying to see the Vikings make it to the Super Bowl. The Packers have always felt like the measuring stick, even back to the earliest days of the Vikings organization.
After entering the league in 1961, the Vikings lost the first six matchups of the rivalry. Coached by Vince Lombardi, the Packers were in the early stages of a dynasty that changed the nation’s perspective on pro football. But Minnesota finally got over the hump on Oct. 4, 1964, when they beat Green Bay, 24-23. That would be the first time the Vikings would finish a season with a winning record. The Vikings secured their first-ever playoff berth when they swept the Packers for the first time in 1968.
Thirty years later, the Vikings rode a 4-0 record into Lambeau Field on Monday Night Football. The Packers had won an NFL-record 25-straight home games and the last two NFC Championship games. However, rookie wideout Randy Moss had other plans. He caught five passes for 190 yards and two touchdowns, putting the Vikings in the national spotlight when they stunned the Packers 37-24.
The Vikings have made the playoffs seven times since the NFC Central became the NFC North in 2002. Only two of those appearances came after going winless against the Packers in the regular season. And all four of their division titles since then came with a prerequisite of beating the Packers at least once.
O’Connell isn’t the only newcomer who will want to make his mark this Sunday, though. Za’Darius Smith is in his first season with the Vikings after spending the previous three years in Green Bay. Smith notched 26 sacks in 2019 and 2020, receiving two Pro Bowl nods for his work. But a back injury forced him to miss nearly all of the 2021 season, and the Packers released him following the season. He appears to be healthy, and we’ve seen what happens when former Packers have a chip on their shoulder in Minnesota.
Finally, we get to see what this group of Vikings looks like now that “Satan,” ahem, Mike Zimmer is out of the building. All we’ve seen thus far is how much different the work environment and culture off the field are under O’Connell. Now we see how it affects the on-field product as we begin to quantify the regime change.
Many believe this culture change from O’Connell’s positivity after Zimmer’s toxicity can lead to several more victories. A win over the hated Packers would be a massive step in the right direction and would put the team over .500 for the first time since Jan. 11, 2020 – or 974 days from Sunday.
Sunday’s loss won’t make or break the 2022 season for the Vikings. But a win could go a long way in signaling a changing of the guard in the NFC North.
