One quarter, and the Murray era was on hold
His first pass was an interception. A desperation throw with a free rusher in his face. Midway through the opening quarter Kyler Murray scrambled on third down, slid late, took a hit and did not come back. Concussion protocol. The new era in Minnesota lasted roughly fifteen minutes.
Carson Wentz came on and did enough. His 39-yard touchdown to Justin Jefferson was Jefferson’s first score on a pass of 20-plus air yards since Week 16 of 2024, which says something about the two seasons in between. Minnesota won 39-22 on Sunday and got outplayed for most of it.
That last part is not a figure of speech. Green Bay held the lead, moved the ball, and finished with 150 more yards than the home team. No Vikings side had ever won a game by 15 points or more while being outgained by that margin. This was the first.
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Brian Flores blitzed on 78.3 percent of defensive snaps and generated pressure on half of them. In the first half that mostly produced noise. In the second it produced free rushers on demand, because Green Bay’s offensive line could not account for the extra bodies and Flores worked out he could keep sending them.
The game turned on one Minnesota drive that survived on a handful of favourable calls and ended with an Aaron Jones rushing touchdown. Jordan Love then fumbled the ball away. On the next possession he threw an interception. Two drives, two turnovers, a 12-point lead flipped into a rout.
Same script, different September
Green Bay spent the offseason rebalancing a roster that collapsed at the end of 2025. The running game never appeared on Sunday, and the pass protection failed at the exact moment the season needed it not to. Love’s fourth quarter looked like a rerun nobody in Wisconsin wanted.
Minnesota leaves with a division win and a quarterback problem that is now familiar rather than new. Wentz managed the game. Murray sits in protocol. The Vikings have spent recent seasons leaning on a backup and hoping, and Sunday told them that the plan still works often enough to be uncomfortable.
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