Jefferson 2 TDs as Vikings Rally Past Packers

Justin Jefferson caught two touchdown passes as the Minnesota Vikings scored the final 29 unanswered points and beat the Green Bay Packers 39-22 on Sunday at U.S. Bank Stadium. Minnesota piled up 22 points in the fourth quarter after trailing 22-10 late in the third.

That is the kind of opener fantasy rooms replay all week. Jefferson finished the day with a 39-yard score, a two-point catch, and a 9-yard closer. Managers who drafted him as a locked WR1 just got the splash half they wanted in Week 1.

Murray exits, Wentz and Jefferson take over

Kyler Murray's first Vikings pass was intercepted by Keisean Nixon. Murray later left with a concussion after a late hit by Javon Bullard that drew an unnecessary roughness flag. Carson Wentz checked in and finished 12 of 19 for 133 yards and three touchdowns, per Daily Norseman.

Late in the first half, a Packers offsides free play set up Wentz's 39-yard touchdown to Jefferson that made it 12-10. Green Bay answered before the break with a 2-yard Christian Watson score after Watson's earlier 81-yard touchdown catch, the longest of Jordan Love's career per WSAW. Rookie Trey Smack had opened the scoring with a 59-yard field goal and later a 26-yarder that pushed the Packers ahead 22-10.

Fourth-quarter surge closes it

Wentz hit T.J. Hockenson for a 16-yard touchdown to cut it to 22-17. After Green Bay failed on a fourth-and-1 sneak, Aaron Jones' 3-yard run gave Minnesota its first lead at 23-22, and Jefferson caught the two-point conversion for 25-22. Andrew Van Ginkel's sack-fumble at the 1 set up a short rushing touchdown to make it 32-22. James Pierre's interception then set up Jefferson's 9-yard touchdown that made it 39-22.

Love threw for nearly 400 yards, but the late turnovers ended Green Bay's chance. The Packers had controlled the first three quarters with Watson's long score, Smack's kicks, and Murray's early exit. Once Van Ginkel and Pierre flipped the field, Minnesota's offense needed only short fields and Jefferson's hands.

Next week Minnesota visits the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field after Chicago's 59-point opener. DFS stacks that paired Wentz with Jefferson and Hockenson got the fourth-quarter juice without needing Murray to finish. Packers fans who packed U.S. Bank for a road opener watched a nine-point halftime cushion disappear in a blur of penalties and turnovers.

Two touchdowns for Jefferson. Twenty-nine unanswered. Thirty-nine to twenty-two. That is the Vikings' Week 1 rally.