It was a successful opening to a new stadium in Minnesota and by a new Vikings quarterback.

Sam Bradford was never on a winning team over his first six years in the league. He had 15 days to learn Minnesota’s offense, then lost his Hall of Fame caliber running back to injury in the third quarter.

Bradford’s debut was almost as dazzling as the new $1.1 billion building itself. He completed 22 of 31 passes for 286 yards, two touchdowns and no turnovers to lead the Vikings to a 17-14 victory over the Packers.

The Vikings touchdowns were scored on receptions by Kyle Rudolph and Stefon Diggs.

The new guy was sharp and that matters a lot for the Vikings and their Super Bowl aspirations that took a hit when Teddy Bridgewater went down on August 30th with a massive injury to his left knee. That triggered the bold trade with Philadelphia to bring in Bradford.

Bradford and emerging weapon Stefon Diggs moved the ball just enough, and the defense did the rest, harassing Aaron Rodgers for five sacks and two fourth-quarter turnovers that quashed the comeback and sent the crowd of 66,813 into a deafening frenzy in celebration of the first regular season game at U.S. Bank Stadium.