Green Bay Packers @ Minnesota Vikings Preview
The Green Bay Packers opens its 2026 NFL season with a test game against its NFC North rivals Minnesota Vikings.
After a 2025 campaign that ended with a second straight Wild Card Round loss, losing a thriller to the Bears in Chicago, the Packers have designs on reclaiming the NFC North crown and securing at least one postseason home game.
The Packers haven’t won the NFC North since the 2021 season and have only had double-digit regular season wins since that campaign.
Getting better on the road will be a big focus for Green Bay as the Packers look to seriously contend in the NFC.
They failed to win five of their nine road games last season, with an early season loss to the Cleveland Browns and a tie with the Dallas Cowboys, two teams that missed the playoffs, proving particularly damaging.
Green Bay also lost in Week 18 at Minnesota, but that loss came after the Packers had already clinched a postseason berth.
Still, their record on the road against the Vikings in recent years isn’t impressive. The Packers have just won one of their last five games at US Bank Stadium and have some key absentees as they look to turn that around.
Running back Josh Jacobs is on the commissioner’s exempt list after pleading no contest to misdemeanor assault and criminal damage to property in connection with an altercation with a woman. MarShawn Lloyd will start in the backfield in his absence.
Star running back Micah Parsons, meanwhile, is on the Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list as he recovers from the torn ACL that ended his inaugural season with Green Bay.
While Parsons leaves a big hole in Green Bay’s defense, the Packer offense is loaded with weapons. Matthew Golden, a first-round pick last year, is poised for a bigger role, while Green Bay will be desperate for Jayden Reed and Christian Watson to stay healthy after the Packers parted ways with Romeo Doubs and Dontayvion Wicks this offseason.
Quarterback Jordan Love will need all the help he can get from his supporting cast and offensive line against a Vikings defense that, while light on stars, is sure to throw plenty of pressure on the signal caller in Green Bay.
Under defensive coordinator Brian Flores, the Vikings had a blitz rate of 44.3% in 2025. It was by far the highest in the league, well ahead of the Atlanta Falcons (33.4%).
Flores’ intense approach puts a lot of pressure on Minnesota’s cornerbacks to maintain man coverage, and Green Bay’s cornerbacks will also have a tough afternoon against the Vikings’ stellar receiver group.
When healthy, Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison are one of the premier wide receiver duos in the NFL, and with Jauan Jennings arriving from the San Francisco 49ers to serve as a complementary piece who excels on the third down, the Vikings can enter the game very confident in the firepower at their disposal.
The key question for Minnesota surrounds new quarterback Kyler Murray.
Murray has been handed the starting job after signing with the Vikings in an attempt to revitalize a career that stalled badly in his final years with the Arizona Cardinals.
The 2019 overall pick is head coach Kevin O’Connell’s latest turnaround project, with Murray trusting him to have the same impact he had on Sam Darnold in 2024 when the Vikings went 14-3.
Minnesota investing in Murray after a 2025 season in which he played just five games due to a foot injury is a gamble. The Vikings will hope to get something close to the player who threw for 3,851 yards and 26 total touchdowns in 2024.
An intriguing divisional matchup with the Packers will provide the first indication of what the Vikings will have in Murray.
