Category: 2022 Week 1 vs Green Bay

Vikings PFF Grades: Best and worst performers in week 1 win vs Packers

The best and worst of the PFF grades from Sunday’s game

The Minnesota Vikings dominated the Green Bay Packers by a score of 23-7 in a game that never really felt close.

Head coach Kevin O’Connell became the fifth head coach in Minnesota Vikings history to win his debut for the franchise.

When the grades came in, they looked really good but there were some disappointing performances.

Here are the best and worst of Sunday’s PFF grades.

Vikings now have 4th-best odds to win Super Bowl LVII, per FiveThirtyEight

The Minnesota Vikings see their Super Bowl odds spike after their week one victory over the Green Bay Packers

After the Minnesota Vikings’ impressive 23-7 win over the Green Bay Packers on Sunday, confidence in the team is at an all-time high. That is directly reflected in their odds to win Super Bowl LVII.

The good people at FiveThirtyEight have an analytical model that predicts who will win the Super Bowl, and the Vikings not only saw their number double from 3% to 6%, but they now possess the fourth-best odds.

The beginning of the Kevin O’Connell era got off to a rousing start as he became the fifth Vikings coach to win his debut. It is too early to be thinking about the Super Bowl, but it is a good sign that the models are turning in favor of the Vikings.

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WATCH: Justin Jefferson lines up across from an edge rusher

Kevin O’Connell showed his ability to exploit favorable matchups on Sunday

The beginning of the Kevin O’Connell era not only brought a 23-7 win in his coaching debut, but his scheme is already paying massive dividends.

The key to his scheme is “the illusion of complexity” as he tries to maximize matchups for his star wide receiver Justin Jefferson. Last year, he was able to get Cooper Kupp some very favorable matchups leading to his record-breaking season.

In the Vikings win, we saw O’Connell find Jefferson those same matchups, including this one on the first drive of the third quarter where he was lined up across from edge rusher Preston Smith.

On this play, it was an easy pitch-and-catch gaining five yards on a speed out. With O’Connell’s creativity, this should the expectation moving forward.

For the first time, Kirk Cousins outclassed Aaron Rodgers on Sunday

Kirk Cousins was the best quarterback on the field on Sunday and it wasn’t particularly close

It’s no secret that Aaron Rodgers is not only one of the best quarterbacks in the National Football League, but also one of the best to ever play the game.

During Sunday’s 23-7 loss to the Minnesota Vikings, it sure didn’t look like it.

After Christian Watson dropped the first pass of the game, the air came out of the Packers sails and the frustration for Rodgers set in.

The Vikings defense did something to Rodgers that hadn’t been done in their rivalry. Mike Zimmer held Rodgers to some paltry numbers and wreaked havoc on him but the Vikings defensive performance on Sunday took things to a new level.

Ed Donatell and company held Rodgers to a passer rating of 67.6 which is the lowest he has ever had against the Vikings.

On the other sideline, Kirk Cousins looked like the much better quarterback in just about every facet of the game. He had a higher completion percentage, nearly double the passer rating at 118.9, 82 more passing yards, two more touchdowns and didn’t turn the ball over.

Not only were the stats better but how he looked on the field was as well. Cousins had a different aura about him. He was extremely confident in the pocket and worked his progressions much better than I had seen in quite some time.

If this is the Cousins that we will be getting moving forward, the Vikings will be a dangerous team moving forward.

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Greg Joseph ties Vikings record for longest field goal

The Vikings finally have a kicker they can rely on

The Minnesota Vikings have had their issues with kickers over the course of the last 20 years.

After cycling through kickers after Gary Anderson missed the game-clinching field goal in the 1998 NFC Championship Game, the Vikings seem to have found a really good one by happenstance.

After keeping Greg Joseph on the practice squad during the tumultuous 2020 season, he won the job before the 2021 season and rewarded the Vikings with a field goal percentage of 86.8%.

On Sunday’s 23-7 win over the Green Bay Packers, Joseph set a career-high in hitting a 56-yard field goal. In doing so, he tied the team record for longest field goal as well.

Set initially by Paul Edinger in 2005, Blair Walsh tied the record in his first game against the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2012. Joseph hit his today with ease and was on the money all game long.

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The Vikings are over .500 for the first time since 2019

The 986-day wait is over.

For a team as storied as the Minnesota Vikings, not being over .500 for a span of two full seasons is somewhat remarkable.

The last two seasons saw the Vikings finish 7-9 in and 8-9, and they were never above the .500 threshold for even one game. They lost their opener each of the last two seasons, which put them in a hole that they couldn’t escape from. In fact, the last day they were over .500 was the final day of the 2019 regular season, when the Vikings finished with a 10-6 record.

Sunday’s 23-7 win against the Green Bay Packers changed that as the Vikings eclipsed the .500 mark for the first time in 987 days.

The Vikings’ new brass has been preaching a new culture, and this is a fantastic way to begin the Kevin O’Connell and Kwesi Adofo-Mensah era.

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Studs and duds from Vikings’ week 1 victory over Packers

Lets take a look at the Vikings studs and duds from Sunday’s game against the Packers

The Minnesota Vikings beat the Green Bay Packers 23-7 in a game that never felt close.

The Vikings came out strong out of the block getting a touchdown on the opening drive to Justin Jefferson. Right after that, they dodged a bullet when Packers wide receiver Christian Watson dropped a surefire 75-yard touchdown pass. After that, the game never felt within the Packers reach.

There were quite a few players who played key roles in the Vikings victory over the Packers on Sunday.

Let’s take a look at the studs and duds from Sunday’s game.

Kevin O’Connell is the 5th Vikings head coach to win debut

O’Connell set a couple of early milestones in his debut game as the Minnesota Vikings head coach

The Minnesota Vikings kicked off the Kevin O’Connell era in style with a 23-7 victory over the Green Bay Packers on Sunday.

Quarterback Kirk Cousins and wide receiver Justin Jefferson displayed tremendous chemistry in dominating the Packers secondary with nine receptions for 184 yards and two touchdowns on both short and intermediate routes.

With the win on Sunday, O’Connell became the fifth Vikings head coach to win his debut and the third this century with both Brad Childress and Mike Zimmer doing the same.

Not only was it his first win in his first game, but O’Connell also beat the Green Bay Packers in his debut becoming the first head coach since Mike Tice in 2002 to accomplish the feat.

Here’s to hoping the O’Connell era peaks as good as it starts.

WATCH: Aaron Rodgers hilariously fails to block Za’Darius Smith

Aaron Rodgers didn’t have much fun on this failed block attempt on Za’Darius Smith

There were a lot of memorable moments for Za’Darius Smith during Sunday’s 23-7 win over the Green Bay Packers but this might have been the best of the bunch.

Early in the first half, Smith got his first sack against his former team bull-rushing guard Jake Hansen right into quarterback Aaron Rodgers to earn his first sack as a Viking.

During the game, Rodgers turned himself into a blocker and tried to block Smith. Needless to say, it didn’t work out well for him.

Rodgers tried to put his shoulder into Smith and he no-sold it like Andre The Giant. Rodgers fell to the ground and they playfully exchanged words before moving onto the next play.

Needless to say, this game just meant more for Smith.

Kirk Cousins presents game balls to O’Connell and Adofo-Mensah

QB1 showed real leadership after the game on Sunday

Even though he’s been a captain during each of his five seasons as the Minnesota Vikings quarterback, we haven’t seen a lot of outward leadership from Kirk Cousins.

On Sunday, we saw a different Cousins on the field. He was more confident, seeing the field better and making great decisions. Cousins was even working his progressions better than we have seen in recent memory.

After the game on Sunday, Cousins went up to the owner Zygi Wilf and asked if he could present game balls to head coach Kevin O’Connell and general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and he was all for it.

The Vikings new staff has preached establishing a new culture and so far, the results are there.