Plenty of questions surround the Minnesota Vikings heading into their Week 1 matchup against the Green Bay Packers. Most of those concerns have centered around the offense, particularly at quarterback. But the Vikings' defense has plenty of its own unknowns.
Dallas Turner is tasked with replacing Jonathan Greenard, and although the early returns in training camp have been good, we still don't know if Turner is ready to be a full-time starter. He showed flashes towards the end of the 2025 season, but is he able to build on that and become a consistent difference-maker opposite Andrew Van Ginkel?
Harrison Smith is back, but how much will he play? Can the other safeties besides Josh Metellus be trusted? And can Chuck Demmings build on a strong training
camp and be serviceable if needed?
There is a sense of comfort, though, with Brian Flores running the unit. Minnesota ranked third in yards allowed in 2025 despite the woes on the other side of the ball. Veterans like Andrew Van Ginkel, Blake Cashman, and Eric Wilson provide a level of belief that, even with younger players sprinkled throughout the roster, the defense will be the team's strength.
Here are three keys for the Vikings in Week 1.
3 Keys for the Vikings' defense against the Packers in Week 1
Stop the no-name run game
The Packers will be without Josh Jacobs for the foreseeable future. Replacing him are Marshawn Lloyd, Chris Brooks, and Kaleb Johnson. The three backs have a combined 465 career snaps, which is fewer than Jacobs had all of last year (532).
Since 2023, the year Jordan Love took over as Green Bay's quarterback, the Packers have a 44.7% run rate, the third-highest mark in the NFL, per Next Gen Stats. Knowing that, and given the dangers of becoming too one-dimensional against Flores, expect Matt LaFleur to try establishing the run game early.
Inefficiency didn't scare LaFleur from running last year when the Vikings came to Lambeau Field. Green Bay ran 42 for 146 yards, a 3.4 yards-per-carry average. However, the Packers' 23-6 lead allowed LaFleur to be stubborn despite a relatively lackluster passing attack.
Contain Love
Love didn't find much success through the air against Minnesota that day. Despite the win, Love completed 14/21 passes for 139 yards, no touchdowns, and no interceptions. Again, because the Vikings struggled to produce on offense, Green Bay ran the ball with minimal success, as there was little threat of a comeback.
But Minnesota's defense has found success against Love since 2023. He completed 24/41 passes for 229 yards, one touchdown, and an interception while taking four sacks at Lambeau Field in 2023 in a 24-10 Vikings win. One year later, Minnesota took a 28-0 lead in the second quarter at Lambeau. Love's final stat line looked better after a second-half rally, but overall he still threw three interceptions despite going 32/54 for 389 yards and four touchdowns as the Vikings won 31-29.
There was a three-touchdown performance from Love on New Year's Eve in 2023, but we'll attribute that as much to Jaren Hall starting for Minnesota as anything. With the crowd at U.S. Bank Stadium amped up for Week 1, I'm expecting a ferocious pass rush to speed up Love's processing.
Get off the field on third down
If the Vikings' defense struggled with anything last year at Lambeau Field, it was getting off the field on third down. The Packers converted on half of their third-down attempts, which gave Minnesota's offense even fewer chances to do anything.
This goes hand in hand with stopping the running game. If the Vikings can get Green Bay into 3rd-and-long, Flores will be able to dial up exotic looks that haven't been put on tape yet. However, if the Packers can keep their third downs manageable, Flores will be forced to play a more traditional scheme, allowing LaFleur to keep the entire playbook open.
This article originally appeared on Vikings Wire: 3 Keys for the Vikings' defense against the Packers in Week 1
