FULL BOX SCORE

Nick Shook’s takeaways:

1. What a debut for Darnold. Perhaps that one year on San Francisco’s bench was all Sam Darnold needed to get back on track. It sure looked like it Sunday, especially after Darnold shook off some early hesitance and started carving up New York’s defense, ripping bullets down the seam (to Josh Oliver for a gain of 22) and sideline (to Justin Jefferson for a 44-yard pickup). His final stat line (19 of 24, 208 yards, two touchdowns, one interception) was as accurate as he was all afternoon, and, perhaps most importantly, he didn’t hurt the Vikings. He elevated them, and stunned much of the football world in the process on the way to an easy victory.
2. Familiar struggles for Jones, Giants. The pivotal 2024 season began with promise — defensively, at least — but before long, the same issues that have plagued the Giants over the last year resurfaced. Daniel Jones struggled under pressure, threw two awful interceptions (including one that went for a pick-six in the blink of an eye), came up empty-handed on two second-half trips to the red zone, tried his best in the ground game but ultimately didn’t make nearly enough of a difference to keep the Giants in this game. To Jones’ credit, when he had time to throw and was in rhythm, he was largely accurate. But if this is a precursor for what’s ahead for New York, it’s going to be a long season.
3. The Aaron Jones era is off to a nice start. Aaron Jones switched sides in the Packers-Vikings rivalry in the offseason, giving the Vikings an answer for a backfield weakness they had since they moved on from Dalvin Cook. So far, so good. Jones looked spry out of the backfield, racking up 94 yards on 14 carries and capping Minnesota’s first scoring drive of the day with an easy stroll up the middle for a 3-yard touchdown. It’s a secondary note, but with Darnold at the controls of the offense, it will be vital to support him with a consistent running game. Mission accomplished in Week 1.

Next Gen stat of the game: Andrew Van Ginkel’s pick-six of Daniel Jones occurred in 1.16 seconds, the fastest interception since Week 13 of 2023, when Van Ginkel intercepted Sam Howell in 1.26 seconds. With Sunday’s takeaway, Van Ginkel is responsible for the two fastest interceptions over the last two seasons.

NFL Research: Sam Darnold started Sunday’s game with 12 straight completions, the most consecutive completions to start a game in his NFL career. It was also the second-most consecutive completions to start a game by a Vikings quarterback since 1991 (Kirk Cousins completed 17 straight in Week 5 of the 2022 season).