For the first time since 2016, the Minnesota Vikings will open the regular season on the road when they face the Cincinnati Bengals at Paul Brown Stadium. Kickoff is at noon.
Minnesota last played at Cincinnati in 2013 when Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer was the defensive coordinator for the Bengals.
The Vikings are 5-2 in season openers under Zimmer including 2-1 in Week 1 road games.
Fox will televise the game, with Chris Myers on play-by-play, Daryl Johnston as analyst and Jen Hale on the sideline.
Notables
Minnesota's Kirk Cousins is the lone NFL quarterback to record at least 3,000 passing yards and 25 touchdowns in each of the last six seasons.
Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers are next on the list. They've each done it in five of the last six years.
Safety Harrison Smith has 28 career interceptions, including tying for the league lead last year with five.
Running back Dalvin Cook's 1,918 yards from scrimmage ranked second in the NFL behind Tennessee's Derrick Henry last year. That was the most for the Vikings since Adrian Peterson had 2,314 yards in his MVP season in 2012.
First meeting
The first meeting between the Vikings and Bengals was in Week 12 of the 14-week 1973 season.
On Dec, 2, 1973, a 7-4 Cincinnati team shut out 10-1 Minnesota 27-0 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati.
Lamar Parrish returned a fumble 23 yards for a TD, Essex Johnson ran in a TD from 40 yards out and Bob Trumpy caught a seven-yard touchdown pass from Ken Anderson. Horst Muhlmann kicked field goals of 22 and 38 yards.
Minnesota would go 12-2 during the regular season, beat Washington and Dallas in the NFC Playoffs and lose 24-7 to Miami in Super Bowl VIII. Cincinnati finished 10-4 and lost to the Dolphins in the Divisional Round.
Openers vs. AFC
The Vikings are 9-6 vs. AFC teams in season openers and played in the first-ever NFC-AFC regular-season game when they hosted the Kansas City Chiefs in front of a sellout crowd of 47,000 at Metropolitan Stadium on Sept. 20, 1970.
It was a rematch of the previous season’s Super Bowl, which Kansas City had won 23-7 just eight months prior.
It didn't erase the result of the previous January in New Orleans, but that game was personal for a lot of the Vikings players and coaches. It showed in a 27-10 win.
"They’ve been shoving it down our throats for eight months," Bud Grant told Sid Hartman after the game. "What can you say when you get beat? It’s sour grapes then. But today we proved that the defense of the 1960s can beat the offense of the 1970s."
Grant seldom showed film of previous games with upcoming opponents on Saturday night before they played the next day. But this time, players reported that Grant didn't have a word to say about the game plan. He just showed film of the Super Bowl loss.
There were a few changes for both teams, with the most notable being that Vikings' QB Joe Kapp was a holdout. He never did rejoin Minnesota, eventually joining the Boston Patriots.
The first quarter was scoreless, although Minnesota had driven deep into Kansas City territory and got on the board when Fred Cox kicked a 20-yard field goal on the first play of the second quarter.
The Vikings defense would be responsible for the first touchdown of the game just three plays later.
Mike Garrett of the Chiefs fumbled when hit by Carl Eller, with Jim Marshall picking it up and rumbling 24 yards before tossing a lateral to Roy Winston at the 14-yard line and he took it the rest of the way for a touchdown and a 10-0 lead. That was the first of five defensive touchdowns for the team that season.
KC closed the gap to 10-7 on a 59-yard touchdown pass from Len Dawson to Otis Taylor, but the Vikings would get a TD by Dave Osborn from one yard out to make it 17-7 at halftime.
The only scoring in the third quarter was a 26-yard field goal by Jan Stenerud of the Chiefs.
The Vikings scored the game's final 10 points in the fourth quarter, with Oscar Reed going in from one yard out and Cox kicking his second field goal of the game, this one from 40 yards out.
Bill Brown was Minnesota's leading rusher with 55 yards on 17 carries. Gary Cuozzo was 12-for-20 passing for 100 yards with two interceptions. John Beasley and Bob Grim both caught three passes.
Wendell Hayes led Kansas City with 22 yards on seven attempts. Dawson was 18-27 for 164 yards. Taylor caught five balls for 100 yards.
The Vikings would again finish the regular season with a 12-2 record for the second straight year, but lost 17-14 to San Francisco at home in the Divisional Round.
The Chiefs would finish 7-5-2 that season and miss the playoffs.
Scores in the Vikings-Bengals series, with Minnesota leading 7-6.
12-02-1973: Cincinnati Bengals 27, Minnesota Vikings 0
11-13-1977: Minnesota Vikings 42, Cincinnati Bengals 10
10-19-1980: Cincinnati Bengals 14, Minnesota Vikings 0
12-17-1983: Minnesota Vikings 20, Cincinnati Bengals 14
11-23-1986: Cincinnati Bengals 24, Minnesota Vikings 20
12-25-1989: Minnesota Vikings 29, Cincinnati Bengals 21
09-27-1992: Minnesota Vikings 42, Cincinnati Bengals 7
12-24-1995: Cincinnati Bengals 27, Minnesota Vikings 24
11-15-1998: Minnesota Vikings 24, Cincinnati Bengals 3
09-18-2005: Cincinnati Bengals 37, Minnesota Vikings 8
12-13-2009: Minnesota Vikings 30, Cincinnati Bengals 10
12-22-2013: Cincinnati Bengals 42, Minnesota Vikings 14
12-17-2017: Minnesota Vikings 34, Cincinnati Bengals 7
Points scored: Minnesota Vikings 287, Cincinnati Bengals 243
Opening day games
The Vikings have a 34-25-1 record in season openers. Here's the list of season-opening games.
1961: Minnesota Vikings 37, Chicago Bears 13
1962: Green Bay Packers 34, Minnesota Vikings 7
1963: Minnesota Vikings 24, San Francisco 49ers 20
1964: Minnesota Vikings 34, Baltimore Colts 24
1965: Baltimore Colts 35, Minnesota Vikings 16
1966: Minnesota Vikings 20, San Francisco 49ers 20 (tie)
1967: San Francisco 49ers 27, Minnesota Vikings 21
1968: Minnesota Vikings 47, Atlanta Falcons 7
1969: New York Giants 24, Minnesota Vikings 23
1970: Minnesota Vikings 27, Kansas City Chiefs 10
1971: Minnesota Vikings 16, Detroit Lions 13
1972: Washington Redskins 24, Minnesota Vikings 21
1973: Minnesota Vikings 24, Oakland Raiders 16
1974: Minnesota Vikings 32, Green Bay Packers 17
1975: Minnesota Vikings 27, San Francisco 49ers 17
1976: Minnesota Vikings 40, New Orleans Saints 9
1977: Dallas Cowboys 16, Minnesota Vikings 10
1978: New Orleans Saints 31, Minnesota Vikings 24
1979: Minnesota Vikings 28, San Francisco 49ers 22
1980: Minnesota Vikings 24, Atlanta Falcons 23
1981: Tampa Bay Buccaneers 21, Minnesota Vikings 13
1982: Minnesota Vikings 17, Tampa Bay Buccaneers 10
1983: Minnesota Vikings 24, Cleveland Browns 21
1984: San Diego Chargers 42, Minnesota Vikings 13
1985: Minnesota Vikings 28, San Francisco 49ers 21
1986: Detroit Lions 13, Minnesota Vikings 10
1987: Minnesota Vikings 34, Detroit Lions 19
1988: Buffalo Bills 13, Minnesota Vikings 10
1989: Minnesota Vikings 38, Houston Oilers 7
1990: Kansas City Chiefs 24, Minnesota Vikings 21
1991: Chicago Bears 10, Minnesota Vikings 6
1992: Minnesota Vikings 23, Green Bay Packers 10
1993: Los Angeles Raiders 24, Minnesota Vikings 7
1994: Green Bay Packers 16, Minnesota Vikings 10
1995: Chicago Bears 31, Minnesota Vikings 14
1996: Minnesota Vikings 17, Detroit Lions 13
1997: Minnesota Vikings 34, Buffalo Bills 13
1998: Minnesota Vikings 31, Tampa Bay Buccaneers 7
1999: Minnesota Vikings 17, Atlanta Falcons 14
2000: Minnesota Vikings 30, Chicago Bears 27
2001: Carolina Panthers 24, Minnesota Vikings 13
2002: Chicago Bears 27, Minnesota Vikings 23
2003: Minnesota Vikings 30, Green Bay Packers 25
2004: Minnesota Vikings 35, Dallas Cowboys 17
2005: Tampa Bay Buccaneers 24, Minnesota Vikings 13
2006: Minnesota Vikings 19, Washington Redskins 16
2007: Minnesota Vikings 24, Atlanta Falcons 3
2008: Green Bay Packers 24, Minnesota Vikings 19
2009: Minnesota Vikings 34, Cleveland Browns 20
2010: New Orleans Saints 14, Minnesota Vikings 9
2011: San Diego Chargers 24, Minnesota Vikings 17
2012: Minnesota Vikings 26, Jacksonville Jaguars 23
2013: Detroit Lions 34, Minnesota Vikings 24
2014: Minnesota Vikings 34, St. Louis Rams 6
2015: San Francisco 49ers 20, Minnesota Vikings 3
2016: Minnesota Vikings 25, Tennessee Titans 16
2017: Minnesota Vikings 29, New Orleans Saints 19
2018: Minnesota Vikings 24, San Francisco 49ers 16
2019: Minnesota Vikings 28, Atlanta Falcons 12
2020: Green Bay Packers 43, Minnesota Vikings 34
Opening day opponents
Records for the Vikings in season-opening games
Atlanta 5-0
Buffalo 1-1
Carolina 0-1
Chicago 2-3
Cleveland 2-0
Dallas 1-1
Detroit 3-2
Green Bay 4-4
Indianapolis (Baltimore) 1-1
Jacksonville 1-0
Kansas City 1-1
Las Vegas (Oakland, Los Angeles) 1-1
Los Angeles (San Diego) Chargers 0-2
Los Angeles (St. Louis) Rams 1-0
New Orleans 2-2
New York Giants 0-1
San Francisco 5-2-1
Tampa Bay 2-2
Tennessee 2-0
Washington 1-1