MINNEAPOLIS _ Since the Vikings thumped a 23-year-old Brett Favre and denied the upstart Packers a playoff berth with a 27-7 win in the 1992 season finale, the buildings on the corner of Chicago Ave. and 4th Street have been the site of more harrowing experiences than two Green Bay MVP quarterbacks would care to count.
Favre won four of his last five games against the Vikings in the Metrodome, breaking Dan Marino's all-time passing TD record in 2007, but went 6-10 in the building while he was the Packers QB, losing nine of his first 11 in its tympanum-ratting environment.
Aaron Rodgers feasted on feeble Vikings defenses during the Metrodome's final years, and won twice in the Vikings' two years at TCF Bank Stadium. But his first three trips to U.S. Bank Stadium included three losses _ none of which saw the Packers QB throw for more than 216 yards _ and one broken collarbone.
The Packers left the building to chants of "Go Pack Go" last December, though, after beating the Vikings to claim their first NFC North title since U.S. Bank Stadium's opening year. And on a surreal Sunday afternoon, in a building where the Vikings were once able to construct their home-field advantage with the help of sensory overload, Rodgers enjoyed something Favre could have only wished for during all those years: near-total serenity in a 43-34 Packers win.
The 36-year-old quarterback operated his offense in front of only the two teams and just under 500 cardboard cutouts that fans had purchased in the west end zone, with the stadium closed to spectators for at least the first two games of the season.
Rodgers didn't have to worry about the Vikings' pass rush, either, with Danielle Hunter on injured reserve for at least three weeks. He wasn't sacked, was pressured infrequently and had plenty of time overall to test a remade Vikings secondary that was trying to coalesce without the benefit of a preseason.
Sunday's end result doesn't figure to define a Vikings team that will be a work in progress this season. But it does represent a jarring opening to the season for a defense that had enjoyed six years of battling Rodgers to a virtual stalemate.
Green Bay hadn't gained more than 383 yards in a single game against the Vikings; it posted 524 on Sunday, more than any team had gained against a Zimmer-led Vikings team other than the Rams' 556-yard day in 2018.
The Packers held the ball for more than 40 minutes. Rodgers became just the fifth QB to surpass 350 passing yards against a Zimmer-led defense, with 364 and four touchdowns. And Green Bay's 43 points (with the help of a safety on a Jaire Alexander sack) were the most the Vikings had allowed since Zimmer took over in 2014.
After the game, Zimmer lamented mistakes, lack of pressure from the defensive line and a handful of false-start penalties on third and short.
"We didn't cover them very good," he said.
Rodgers spent much of the day looking for Pro Bowl receiver Davante Adams, who caught 14 passes for 156 yards and two scores, but tested the Vikings' young corners with deep shots to Marquez Valdes-Scantling, who caught four passes for 96 yards and dropped another deep ball from Rodgers.
After Kirk Cousins threw behind Adam Thielen for an interception in the final minute of the first half, Valdes-Scantling got a step on rookie cornerback Cameron Dantzler hauling in a 45-yard touchdown from Rodgers to give Green Bay a 22-7 lead.
The lead grew to 29-10 entering the fourth quarter, when Cousins connected with Thielen for a 37-yard touchdown with 13:53 left in the game. The Vikings scored three fourth-quarter touchdowns, but could not keep the Packers out of the end zone to complete a comeback.
The fourth-quarter surge helped Cousins amass 259 yards on 19 of 25 passing, but in the first half had only five passing attempts, completing three.
"We didn't have the ball. We didn't control the ball," Zimmer said.
A day after signing a lucrative contract extension, Dalvin Cook rushed for 50 yards and two touchdowns in 12 carries.
