For nearly three quarters Sunday afternoon, the Green Bay Packers looked like the better football team.

Then everything fell apart.

Green Bay opened the 2026 season with a 39–22 loss to the Minnesota Vikings at U.S. Bank Stadium, but the final score doesn’t begin to explain how frustrating this loss should be for Packers fans.

The Packers led 22–10 midway through the third quarter.

They outgained Minnesota 419 yards to 239.

Jordan Love threw for 387 yards.

Christian Watson looked every bit like the explosive playmaker Green Bay hoped he could become.

And somehow the Packers lost by 17.

Welcome back, football.

Green Bay Couldn’t Have Asked for a Much Better Start

The afternoon began exactly how Packers fans would have hoped.

Green Bay opened the scoring with a 59-yard field goal before Love and Watson delivered the first huge play of the season.

Facing third down from the Green Bay 19, Love found Watson down the middle of the field.

Eighty-one yards later, Watson was in the end zone.

It was exactly the kind of explosive connection Packers fans have been waiting to see consistently from Love and Watson.

Green Bay led 9–0.

Even after Minnesota began fighting back, the Packers remained in control.

Love found Watson again for a two-yard touchdown just before halftime, giving Green Bay a 19–10 advantage heading into the locker room.

Another field goal in the third quarter pushed the lead to 22–10.

At that point, the Packers appeared to be on their way to exactly the kind of opening-day victory they wanted.

On the road.

Against a division rival.

Then the game completely changed.

Carson Wentz Changes Everything

One of the biggest stories entering Sunday’s game was Minnesota’s new quarterback, Kyler Murray.

Ironically, the quarterback who ultimately changed the game was Carson Wentz.

Murray struggled before leaving the game, completing just three of five passes for 18 yards with an interception.

Wentz stepped in and suddenly Minnesota’s offense came alive.

He finished 12 of 19 for 133 yards and three touchdowns without throwing an interception.

His first touchdown went to Justin Jefferson late in the second quarter.

Then he found T.J. Hockenson for another score in the third.

Suddenly Green Bay’s comfortable lead wasn’t so comfortable anymore.

Minnesota trailed only 22–17 entering the fourth quarter.

And that’s when things became ugly.

Twenty-Two Fourth-Quarter Points

Green Bay entered the fourth quarter leading by five.

It left Minneapolis having lost by 17.

That’s difficult to do.

Aaron Jones scored against his former team to give Minnesota its first lead of the afternoon. Wentz then connected with Jefferson on the two-point conversion.

Vikings 25, Packers 22.

Green Bay needed an answer.

It never came.

Jordan Mason added another Minnesota touchdown.

Then Jefferson scored again.

In a little more than six minutes of game time, Minnesota turned a 22–17 deficit into a 39–22 lead.

Game over.

The Vikings scored 29 unanswered points to finish the game.

For a team with aspirations of competing for an NFC North championship, that’s an unacceptable way to close a football game.

The Penalties Were Brutal

There will be plenty to dissect from this loss, but one number jumps off the stat sheet.

12 penalties for 98 yards.

Minnesota?

Three penalties for 15 yards.

You’re going to have a difficult time winning divisional road game with that kind of discrepancy.

Some penalties hurt more than others, but collectively they point toward a Packers team that wasn’t disciplined enough when the game started slipping away.

Green Bay had opportunities to regain control.

Instead, mistakes continued piling up.

That’s something Matt LaFleur and his staff need to address immediately.

Jordan Love’s Stat Line Doesn’t Tell the Whole Story

Love’s final numbers are strange.

He completed 21 of 42 passes for 387 yards, two touchdowns and one interception.

Nearly 400 passing yards sounds fantastic.

Completing only half your passes doesn’t.

And most importantly, Green Bay scored zero points in the fourth quarter when the game demanded an answer.

There were still plenty of positives.

Love showed his ability to push the football downfield. He produced several explosive plays and helped Green Bay accumulate 419 total yards.

But quarterbacks are ultimately judged by what happens when games are on the line.

Minnesota found another gear in the fourth quarter.

Christian Watson Looks Dangerous

Green Bay didn’t.

If Packers fans want something positive to take away from Sunday, start with Christian Watson.

Watson caught six passes for 147 yards and two touchdowns.

His 81-yard score was the biggest offensive play of the game, and his ability to stretch the field gave Minnesota problems throughout the afternoon.

Matthew Golden also had an encouraging performance, catching six passes for 95 yards, while Tucker Kraft contributed 65 receiving yards.

There are legitimate weapons in this Packers passing game.

That’s what makes Sunday’s result even more frustrating.

Green Bay generated explosive plays.

It moved the football.

The Running Game Was Missing

It just didn’t finish.

The absence of Josh Jacobs was noticeable.

Green Bay ran the ball only 21 times and finished with 66 rushing yards.

MarShawn Lloyd led the way with 37 yards on 13 carries.

That’s not enough.

Some of that can be explained by game situation, particularly once Minnesota took control late, but Green Bay can’t become an offense completely dependent on Love throwing the football.

Forty-two pass attempts compared with 21 rushing attempts isn’t the balance Matt LaFleur is likely looking for.

Finding a dependable ground game needs to become a priority.

Don’t Overreact, But Don’t Ignore It Either

It’s Week 1.

That’s important to remember.

The Packers aren’t doomed. The Vikings haven’t won the NFC North. There are 16 games left.

But dismissing this as simply one bad afternoon would be a mistake too.

Green Bay had Minnesota exactly where it wanted them.

The Packers led by 12 points late in the third quarter despite playing on the road against their biggest divisional rival.

They had outplayed Minnesota statistically.

Then they were outscored 29–0.

Good teams finish games like this.

Teams with championship aspirations definitely have to.

The encouraging part is that many of Green Bay’s problems appear fixable.

One Game Down, Plenty to Learn

Clean up the penalties.

Find some balance offensively.

Finish drives.

And when momentum starts shifting, find a way to stop it before the game completely gets away.

There were reasons for optimism Sunday.

Watson looked explosive.

Golden flashed.

Love pushed the football downfield.

The Packers moved the ball considerably better than Minnesota for much of the afternoon.

But none of those things change the final result.

Vikings 39. Packers 22.

And an 0–1 start in the NFC North.

The NFL season is long, and one game rarely defines a team.

What happens next might tell us considerably more.

Do the Packers respond and make Sunday’s collapse look like an early-season stumble?

Or did Minnesota expose problems that will follow Green Bay throughout 2026?

We’ll start finding out next week.

Because if there is one lesson the Packers should take from Minneapolis, it’s pretty simple:

Playing like the better team for three quarters doesn’t matter if you don’t finish the fourth.