Five extra points: Kevin O'Connell's play calling is A+ and Kirk Cousins's check-down moment

Kevin O'Connell was both unpredictable and committed to the run while toying with a stout Packers defense with a balanced play sheet that earned him a stress-free 23-7 victory at U.S. Bank Stadium in his debut as Vikings coach. On 27 first downs, O'Connell called 16 runs and 11 passes. At halftime, it was eight runs and eight passes. Early in the fourth quarter, it was 11 runs, 11 passes. Channeling both his inner new-school Sean McVay and old-school Mike Zimmer on first downs, O'Connell got Justin Jefferson three catches for 111 yards and a touchdown while also feeding Dalvin Cook 10 carries for 59 yards. Back-to-back 9-yard runs by Cook on first down led to back-to-back first-down passes to Jefferson for 47 yards, a touchdown and a 17-0 halftime lead. "Balance is something we talked about since Day 1 [under O'Connell]," receiver Adam Thielen said. "He told us we're not going to just abandon the run game. You still have to be able to run the ball in this league."

Anyone else get one of those "oh-no" Kirk Cousins moments when he checked down short of the first-down marker on third-and-6, forcing the Vikings to punt the ball away with two minutes left in the third quarter? This was Cousins' answer to a Green Bay touchdown that cut the lead to 13. Never fear though. After the Packers punted, O'Connell got aggressive and Cousins showed some killer instinct. The drive opened with a 21-yard pass to Thielen, included Cousins trusting Jefferson on a 21-yard completion on third-and-7 and ended with a field goal to make it a 16-point game. "Kirk feels very comfortable and Coach did a great job with that attacking mind-set," Thielen said. "I've never really been part of an offense that is free and just out there attacking like this."

Packers nose tackle Kenny Clark was his typical Vikings-killer self early on. Swim moves past center Garrett Bradbury and a befuddled rookie right guard Ed Ingram on third-and-two led to Cousins forcing two incompletions. A strong bullrush against left tackle Christian Darrisaw later led to a Rashan Gary sack. "He lines up everywhere," said left guard Ezra Cleveland. "He's a menace to everyone." Not Cleveland. Clark lined up across from Cleveland on the game's biggest play — a 64-yard pass to Jefferson — and ended up being driven to the ground as Cousins stepped up to make the throw. "I kind of sold the run a little bit," Cleveland said. "He push-pulled me and I just had to keep driving my feet. Try to create some space inside for Kirk, and luckily got that done."

Patrick Peterson is too good and too old feel the need to lie to the media. He got completely fooled by Aaron Rodgers' deep ball, rookie receiver Christian Watson's speed and everything else that happened on the Vikings' first defensive snap of the season. Beaten by three steps or more, Peterson could do nothing but watch the ball be placed perfectly onto the fingers of the receiver the Packers drafted with a second-round pick acquired in a trade with the Vikings. So, Patrick, how did it feel when Watson dropped the surefire touchdown? "Pretty good, for sure," he said. The Packers lined up with two receivers to each side in a formation that Peterson said they normally throw shorter passes from. "Nope," Peterson said. "I was looking short and they threw it deep right away. But I will tell you this. They didn't get behind me after that."

So, new inside linebacker Jordan Hicks, how did new defensive coordinator Ed Donatell do against his former team in his Purple debut? "Awesome," said Hicks, who had a game-high 14 tackles, nine of them solo, and a sack that created one of the Vikings' two takeaways. "We knew what to expect the whole game. Ed is the most calm, transparent defensive coordinator I've ever been around. There were no surprises. Just look at the way we played. We played together." Hicks' sack led to a 56-yard field goal and a 20-0 lead. "I had the tight end to the flat on that play," Hicks said. "And he blocked. When I saw that, I took off and tried to get [to Rodgers] as fast as I could. And I put my all into him. It worked out." Eric Kendricks, the other starting inside linebacker, had only four tackles, but added a key pass defense.