Carson Wentz didn’t play like a stopgap on Sunday. He looked like a quarterback who belonged in the huddle from the start, and the Minnesota Vikings rode that poise to a 39-22 win over the Green Bay Packers.
Wentz completed 12 of 19 passes for 133 yards and three touchdowns, helping Minnesota finish the game on a 29-0 run. For a veteran who didn’t expect to be in this spot with Kyler Murray ahead of him on the depth chart, it was a sharp opening statement.
The sequence that really flipped the day came on a 39-yard touchdown strike to Justin Jefferson. After that, the offense started to click, and Wentz ended with a 123.3 quarterback rating.
“I was bummed to see Kyler go down when he did; I love the kid,” said Wentz post-game. “I knew right away. … I’ve been a part of a couple concussions in my career too, so it sucks for him, but the guys rallied and made a lot of plays down the stretch.”
Minnesota head coach Kevin O’Connell pointed to exactly what Wentz was brought in to provide.
“Carson…that’s why he’s here,” said head coach Kevin O’Connell postgame. “To be a part of that calming presence to allow our team to keep playing.”
Wentz entered the game with six minutes left in the first quarter, and by that point he was already on track for what would have been his 100th career start. Even in a situation built on uncertainty, he handled the moment like a player who has seen just about everything.
“By the time I step into that huddle, I say to myself, ‘I’ve done this, I’ve done this before in a lot of different colors now,’” Wentz said when a reporter told him that players see his leadership as calming. “I’m kind of the old guy in the huddle, so…no matter what I feel inside, I got to present that, so it was fun to turn it around the way we did today.”
The performance also put Wentz in a very rare corner of NFL history. He became the second reserve since 1950 to throw three passing touchdowns and zero interceptions. The only other quarterback to do it is Fran Tarkenton, in Minnesota’s first game as a franchise in 1961.
This wasn’t just a clean stat line against a soft defense, either. Wentz’s last run with the Vikings came before his left shoulder injury, when he went 2-3 and posted a 129.8 quarterback rating against the Cincinnati Bengals in a 48-10 Minnesota win.
That day he went 14 of 20 for 173 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions. Sunday came against a much tougher Green Bay defense, which makes the outing stand out even more.
It also showed how much more settled he looks in Minnesota’s offense. Wentz said last season was different, and this one has been easier to navigate with another year in Kevin O’Connell’s system. His last stretch with this kind of workload came in 2022 with the Indianapolis Colts, when he started eight games and went 2-6.
Justin Jefferson remains the center of everything Minnesota does, and Wentz made sure to say so plainly.
“He’s unbelievable, I said it last year, and I’ll say it today: The guy’s good,” said Wentz about Jefferson. “He’s the best in the world at what he does.
… Some games, there’s limited opportunities for him because teams are very aware of where he is. But when it goes his way, he usually finds a way to come down with it.
He’s a stud.”
The schedule gives Wentz a chance to keep rolling. Minnesota’s next three games are against the Chicago Bears, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and Miami Dolphins, and all three allowed at least 27 points in their games this past week. That should keep the veteran in position to stay steady until Murray can return from concussion protocol.
For Vikings fans, the scene may have felt familiar. But this time Wentz did something he didn’t do last season: he beat a good team. Even with Micah Parsons injured, Green Bay is still no easy assignment, and Wentz looked comfortable enough to make that matter.
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