Fueled by a 22-zip fourth quarter that was generated by a massive momentum swing, the Minnesota Vikings defeated the Green Bay Packers 39-22 Sunday at U.S. Bank Stadium to begin 1-0 for the third consecutive season. After digesting Week 1 film, we have identified three performers who maybe flew under the radar in real time, as well as two stats that were imperative to the outcome and one special moment of the game that epitomized Minnesota's culture of smart and tough players who love football.

Three Hidden Gems

Levi Drake Rodriguez opens sack season

In a moment of foreshadowing, the charismatic defensive tackle stormed first through the Vikings tunnel, leading the Purple onto the field pregame. Later in the day, Rodriguez surged past Packers center Sean Rhyan and wrapped Jordan Love's legs like a calf for the first Vikings sack of the season on the final play of the third quarter. The pass rush typified the 26-year-old's hair-on-fire relentlessness.

Rodriguez, initially, slapped Rhyan's left shoulder with his right hand and worked the edge of the blocker as Love executed a quick play fake from under center. Rhyan attempted to drive Rodriguez down the LOS, but L.D.R. was too agile, ripping under and through the 6-foot-5, 320-pounder with his left arm and then cutting and accelerating like a running back to the defense's left as Love stepped up and cocked back his arm for one of his trademarked fadeaway passes. Rodriguez closed the gap and dove too quickly, though.

The takedown resulted in a loss of 10 yards and was a precursor for Minnesota's pressure increasing in the fourth quarter. It also underlined an outstanding start to the season for the 2024 seventh-round pick.

Rodriguez garnered three tackles and two QB hits, and Pro Football Focus awarded him with an 82.1 overall grade — his best single-game score to date in 18 career appearances on defense. Before his sack, Rodriguez partnered with Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins on a TFL inside the Vikings 10 that helped calm the unit following a 43-yard completion to tight end Jonnu Smith. On that tackle, Rodriguez swam past Zach Bako-Bewele (formerly Zach Tom) with so much force the standout lineman collapsed to his knees, then Rodriguez pursued MarShawn Lloyd from the backside and wrapped up his feet as Lloyd was stood up.

Myles Price kicks into high gear

Last night, we detailed Domonique Orange squeezing Love and the Packers offense on a fourth-and-1 sneak in the fourth quarter that prompted — to echo Head Coach Kevin O'Connell's postgame remarks — an "avalanche" of momentum. Before that crucial turnover on downs, however, there was a clutch 68-yard kickoff return courtesy Price that set up Carson Wentz to find T.J. Hockenson about two-and-a-half minutes later for six over the middle, late in the third frame, and cut Green Bay's lead from 12 points to 5.

The return counted as the longest so far in Price's young and electric career, and it captured so many of the things he excels at from setting up blocks to making tacklers miss (and look silly) and finishing strong. From Minnesota's 4 and initially parallel to the numbers lining the left side of the grid, Price sprinted up to the 20 and then started to dance, shaking his hips with defenders descending on him but still almost 7 yards away. Price made his mind up on which crease to commit to — thanks to a devastating block that DeeJay Dallas made on Packers starting safety Evan Williams — and then welcomed Green Bay's rookie kicker to the NFL with a nonchalant juke move after crossing the 40. For a moment, it looked like Price might have the juice to peel away from the kickoff coverage entirely, but he didn't like the angle, so he cut one more time to his left and then churned his legs through the last man standing for another 5 or so yards.

The shifty runback catalyzed 29 unanswered points by the Vikings, and an especially bonkers final stanza. It also contributed to Price's phenomenal stat line: five kickoff returns for 179 yards (35.8 avg.), plus one punt return for 13. His 192 combined return yards represented the most by a single player for Minnesota since Week 13 in 2015 when Cordarrelle Patterson notched 198, including a 101-yard TD, via five kickoffs.

Aaron Jones, Sr., chugs away & cracks code

The 74th career score for Jones was a special one — his first against his old team in four games played against Green Bay. Also, it signaled the decisive points and the first rushing TD of the 2026 slate for Minnesota's revamped run game, and a sampling of the way the Vikings want to be able to run the rock.

That's to say, violently, and in a synchronized manner.

On first-and-goal from the 3, the Vikings rolled out 21 personnel, with Jones as the deep back behind Wentz and fullback Max Bredeson in an H-back stance off the ball and shaded behind left tackle Christian Darrisaw. Receiver Jauan Jennings, a reputable run blocker, was on that side, too, while Josh Oliver and Justin Jefferson capped the right side of scrimmage. Before the snap, Bredeson motioned, quickly, to the right but stopped in his tracks and swiveled his original direction as Wentz took an under-center snap. The pre-snap movement drew Packers safety Xavier McKinney into a position of disadvantage and made his path to the outside of the formation longer, and better for Minnesota. Working in concert, Jennings sealed the edge defender aligned inside of him, Darrisaw pulled into the clear and into McKinney's face, and Bredeson got enough of cornerback Carrington Valentine for Jones to weave inside, into the paint.

That's the main highlight, understandably, but not the only one Jones produced Sunday. And his final line — 12 carries for 40 yards (3.3 avg.) and a long of 8 — didn't do his impact justice, either. Jones lost out on 50 yards when a lucky finger touch ruled him down by contact on a very heads-up and explosive rush in the second quarter, where he wiggled through a tiny opening and stumbled to the turf but sprang to his feet and kept going. The referees let the play continue, but replay assist ultimately deemed Jones down.

The 31-year-old had a few other nifty runs, including his second touch of the game when he gathered a toss to the left, turned the corner and sifted through a sea of bodies for 6 yards, and his third-to-last rush when he followed Bredeson in a slightly offset I-formation and hop-stepped inside a block and through a tackler's grasp and then rumbled forward with 340-pound Jonathan Ford strapped to his back, to gain 5.

Jones also was in midseason form in pass pro and stayed in the pocket to help six times. On one rep, he awesomely took out two Packers, chipping one and spinning into another, to buy time for Kyler Murray to convert a third-and-4 to Justin Jefferson. Later, he sprawled out and clipped a rusher to give Wentz room to deliver a fastball to Josh Oliver. Overall, Jones' 78.8 pass-blocking grade per PFF was his best in a game (min. five pass blocks) since Minnesota beat Chicago in overtime in Week 12 two years ago (82.1).

Two Key Stats

Vikings win weighty downs

Minnesota went 8-for-15 (53.3%) on third downs Sunday. How good is that? So efficient that it actually hinted at the Vikings winning the game well before the massive momentum swings. Since O'Connell was hired in 2022, the team is 14-1 in matchups where the offense converts on 50% or more of third downs.

The outlier in that span was a 34-28 loss at Philadelphia in 2023.

Furthermore, the Vikings are 20-2 under O'Connell when the group moves the chains on third downs at a 43% or higher rate. Again, the only other loss in that timeframe was to the Eagles — 28-22 last season.

The Vikings defense fared equally well Sunday, limiting the Packers to three conversions on critical snaps (3-for-12 on third downs; 0-for-2 on fourth downs). The effort tied Week 18 versus Green Bay last season as the 10th stingiest on third downs (25%) since Brian Flores came aboard in 2023. Again, that's a reliable recipe for success. Minnesota owns a 17-3 record in games when opponents convert 30% or fewer of third downs with Flo' scheming the defense. That stretch included two losses in 2023 and to Philly in '25.

Persistent pressure pays off

The Packers dam broke, so to speak, in the fourth quarter when the Vikings pressured Love 10 times, according to Next Gen Stats. That's the most by a defense this season in the final 15 minutes through Sunday's slate of games, and the second most under Flo's watch. (In the 2023 win over New Orleans, the Vikings defense posted 12 QB pressures in the fourth quarter — and held the Saints offense to 86 yards.)

Ultimately, pressure stressed Love and cracks spread. Across 18 dropbacks in the fourth quarter, he was sacked three times as Blake Cashman and Co. got to him in 1.93 seconds on average, per NGS. That TTP (time to pressure) ranks as the quickest by a defense in any quarter so far in 2026 (min. 5 pressures).

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A Moment to Remember

Superman stretch for 'Jets' ices win

After dragging his toes in the end zone on a free play that confirmed Minnesota's longest touchdown pass (39 yards) since 2024 … after clutching a 2-point conversion that extended the Vikings lead to 3 points with six minutes and … after doing plenty, already, to ensure a 1-0 start, Jefferson did the absolute most to bury the division rivals, catching a dink pass in the flat and dunking on the pylon like Superman. The moment epitomized Jefferson's competitiveness and accentuated his lone 2026 goal.

Recently, he told the world: "Just win. That's it."

JUSTIN JEFFERSON. THAT IS OUTRAGEOUS. 🤯

Defying Gravity. pic.twitter.com/OKB1oWmHyl

— NFL UK & Ireland (@NFLUKIRE) September 13, 2026