EAGAN, Minn. – The fans have spoken, and they are predicting that Vikings running back Dalvin Cook will score the team's first touchdown of the 2020 season.
Cook earned the most votes in our "Filtered by the Fan" Twitter poll, with more than 50 percent of the nearly 13,000 total votes going toward the fourth-year back.
Adam Thielen received 27.6 percent of the votes, followed by Kyle Rudolph (9 percent). A category of "Other" combined to have 12 percent.
Rudolph, who is set to make his 82nd straight start on Sunday, has never scored the Vikings first touchdown of a season, but he did catch the first Vikings touchdown at U.S. Bank Stadium in 2016 (against the Packers).
Thielen scored Minnesota's first touchdown last season, hauling in a 23-yard pass from Kirk Cousins early in the first quarter against the Falcons. Cook followed just a few minutes later with a 19-yard rushing touchdown.
In 2017 and 2018, former Vikings receiver Stefon Diggs made it into the end zone first. And in 2016? The only two touchdowns scored in Minnesota's season opener against Tennessee were by defensive teammates Eric Kendricks and Danielle Hunter.
Not counting Kirk Cousins' 26 passing touchdowns, of course, Cook reached the end zone the most for the Vikings with 13 rushing touchdowns.
After battling injuries his first two seasons, starting with the ACL tear that cut short his rookie campaign, Cook started 14 games in 2019. The explosive runner racked up 1,135 yards on 250 carries en route to his first career Pro Bowl nod.
If Cook does, in fact, score first for the Vikings on Sunday, it will mark just his second touchdown against the Packers. His first visit to the end zone against Green Bay occurred in Week 2 of last season, when he zipped past defenders for a 75-yard touchdown at Lambeau Field.
If Cook scores in the first quarter, it will make his fifth career touchdown within the first 15 minutes of a game.
Other Vikings "written in" by fans in the poll's comments included receiver Bisi Johnson, first-round selection Justin Jefferson and tight end Irv Smith, Jr.; one fan predicted a K.J. Osborn return TD on the game's opening kickoff.
And don't forget the option of a defensive touchdown, 2016-style.
Votes for pick-sixes by Anthony Harris, Harrison Smith, Jeff Gladney and Cam Dantzler all were thrown into the ring. Smith has a franchise-best four interception return touchdowns and five career picks against the Pack, but none of those have been scores.
