Minnesota Vikings: Studs and duds from Week 1 vs. Packers

Stud: Redzone Defense in the first half

The lone bright spot when it came to the Vikings defense was their redzone defense in the first half. Outside of that, that was basically it for a defense that has been one of the best in the league in past seasons.

Specifically in the first quarter and in the first half for the most part, the Vikings’ redzone defense was pretty solid early on as it held Green Bay out of the endzone while forcing it to settle for field goals during the first two quarters.

Yes, the defense did give up nearly 50 points on their home field, but things could have been much worse in the first half if it wasn’t for Minnesota’s redzone defense to open the game.

Dud: Vikings offense for three quarters

Another dud for Minnesota in the loss to the Green Bay Packers in the season opener on Sunday afternoon was the Vikings offense for a majority of the game. Minnesota did end up tallying 34 points on its home field and that should have put it in a situation to come away with the win, but that wasn’t the case.

For the Vikings, it was too little too late in the game against the Packers. Minnesota’s bright spot on offense was its ability to rattle off 24 points late in the game and during the fourth quarter, but the Vikings wasn’t really able to do too much offensively in the first three quarters.

Moving forward, this offense will need to get into more of a rhythm and get rolling early on in games to put the Vikings in a position to come away with a win before falling behind too much.