By Matthew Coller
MINNEAPOLIS — Imagine trying to explain Sunday’s game to somebody who didn’t see it.
First, Kyler Murray suffered a concussion in the first quarter on an ugly hit by Green Bay defender Lukas Van Ness, taking the air completely out of the building. Then the Vikings’ defense looked lost in the secondary, giving up an 81-yard touchdown pass to Christian Watson.
After Wentz put the Vikings on the board, the Packers took a 22-10 lead with five minutes left in the third quarter due to Vikings struggles to chase down Love and cover the speedy Pack receivers.
And then the Vikings won. By 17 points.
Carson Wentz, with almost no practice reps all summer long, came off the bench to lead the Vikings to a scoring drive that was driven by three key Packers penalties and then Andrew Van Ginkel recovered a Love fumble to completely turn the game upside down and put the Vikings ahead late. Then an interception and Wentz touchdown put it away.
Despite how ugly and shocking it may have been and the potential ramifications of losing Murray for possibly an extended period of time, nothing could have been better than surviving the starting QB’s injury and coming away with a victory — no matter how it happened. The Vikings kept up with the other NFC North teams and put the Packers in an immediate hole.
The Vikings will be talking about a lot of things that need to be fixed over the next week as they get ready to play the Chicago Bears, whose offense put up Indoor Footbal League numbers against the Carolina Panthers. They will need to block better. Cover better. Avoid special teams penalties. Run the ball more consistently. Be more consistently accurate.
But in the end, the win over the Packers demonstrated a lot of the things that gave people belief in the offseason that they could be good. They caught Wentz’s passes, regardless of the accuracy. They eventually ran the ball with a new scheme and Mason’s hard-nosed style. They forced turnovers by creating pressure. They showed a little magic and resilience.
All those things will have to continue regardless of who’s playing QB but the victory gives them breathing room to survive Murray’s absence.
It also gives this team a ton of confidence that they have the talent to overcome whatever comes their way.
Here’s how it went down…