Vikings-Packers recap: Game balls, numbers to know, what's ahead
WR Justin Jefferson. No-brainer. A franchise-record 158 first-half yards, outgaining the Packers by himself, on his way to two TDs and a career-high 184 yards.
OLB Za'Darius Smith. The former Packer made no secret this was a revenge game for him. He had the first of four sacks of Aaron Rodgers and was the instigator of the pivotal goal-line stand.
Kevin O'Connell. He joined Norm Van Brocklin (1961), Dennis Green (1992), Brad Childress (2006) and Mike Zimmer (2014) by winning his opening game as the Vikings' head coach.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
56: Distance of Greg Joseph's third-quarter field goal, his career long and tying a franchise record. He is 8-for-10 on kicks of 50 or more yards.
100: Net yards for the Packers in the first half, 58 fewer than accumulated by Justin Jefferson at that time.
6,002: Career receiving yards for Adam Thielen. He's the sixth Vikings receiver to reach 6,000 yards.
141: Yards by Davante Adams, Aaron Rodgers' favorite target in recent years, in his debut Sunday with Las Vegas, where he was traded in the offseason. The Packers' leading receiver Sunday was running back A.J. Dillon, with 46 yards on five catches.
JEFFERSON WATCH
Justin Jefferson needs 964 more yards to pass Randy Moss' NFL record for most yards in a receiver's first three seasons. He needs to average 113.5 yards over the next 16 games to reach his goal of a 2,000-yard season.
UP NEXT
at Philadelphia, Sept. 19, 7:30 p.m.
The Eagles got QB Jalen Hurts a new weapon in WR A.J. Brown, and the two connected 10 times for 155 yards in Sunday's 38-35 win over the Lions. Hurts also had 90 yards rushing with a TD.
Mike Conley was in Minneapolis, where he sounded the Gjallarhorn at the Vikings game, on Sunday during the robbery.