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What we learned: The first part of the season could be rough for this defense. Danielle Hunter is on injured reserve, and the Vikings are breaking in three new cornerbacks. But I always thought Mike Zimmers expertise gave the Vikings a high floor on defense. That might not be the case early on though. Sundays loss to the Packers marked the most points the Vikings have allowed (43) since Zimmer took over as head coach in 2014. The 522 yards were the second highest total his defenses have allowed in the regular season. The Vikings failed to produce a sack or a takeaway against Green Bay. Zimmer is smart enough to get their issues fixed, but that was a rough start.

Defense is the calling card for Mike Zimmer's teams, but it wasn't against Green Bay in the opener. If that doesn't improve, this season will be lost in a hurry.

If you can't apply pressure, young corners will get burned ... to tune of most points (43) Minnesota has allowed under Mike Zimmer.

Best rookie debut: WR Justin Jefferson
The Vikings didn't get a ton of contributions from their rookie class in Week 1. Third-round cornerback Cameron Dantzler played the most of any rookie, but his outing was marred by giving up a 45-yard touchdown pass. Jefferson is the easiest answer, as he had two catches for 36 yards and was on the field for 36 of 52 plays. Offensive coordinator Gary Kubiak hinted last week at easing Jefferson into a significant role with time. What the rookie wideout did in his debut, including a 17-yard grab in the fourth quarter, is indicative of more to come. -- Courtney Cronin

Forget the garbage-time production, which was prodigious and undoubtedly appreciated by fantasy owners. In the real world, this was an embarrassing effort against a division rival that outclassed the Vikings in all phases. Packers QB Aaron Rodgers did whatever he wanted against the young secondary, and Kirk Cousins and the Minnesota offense struggled to get anything going until it was too late. The pass rush was nearly nonexistent with Danielle Hunter sidelined by injury, and huffing and puffing was rampant by the end of a first half where the D was on the field for 22:45 of game time. It's going to be a long week at Vikings headquarters.