Sunday was a full-circle moment for Minnesota quarterback Carson Wentz. The 32-year-old quarterback, who grew up cheering for the Vikings, delivered one of the better performances of his career in his first appearance with the team.
Wentz — playing for his sixth team in as many years — posted a 129.8 passer rating (second-best in his 10-year career) with 173 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions as he led the Vikings to a dominant 48-10 victory against the Cincinnati Bengals. The win moved Minnesota to 2-1 and into a first-place tie with the Green Bay Packers atop the NFC North.
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Just more than two minutes into the game, Wentz found tight end Josh Oliver for a 12-yard touchdown to open the scoring.
.@cj_wentz's 1st TD in Purple gives the #Vikings the early lead.
📺: @NFLonCBS pic.twitter.com/zo2Z8uf1so
— Minnesota Vikings (@Vikings) September 21, 2025
Wentz’s second touchdown came from five yards out when he lofted a pass to tight end T.J. Hockenson late in the third quarter, putting the finishing touches on the route. Most of the starters, Wentz included, sat out for the fourth quarter.
Foot on gas.@cj_wentz x @TheeHock8
📺: @NFLonCBS pic.twitter.com/kyeXwZoFSc
— Minnesota Vikings (@Vikings) September 21, 2025
“There was definitely a lot of emotions I had to channel running out there,” Wentz, who grew up in North Dakota, said of playing for the Vikings in his postgame press conference. “It’s been a while since getting a chance to [start], but then obviously being in the purple and gold means a little extra something to me personally. I definitely had a lot of emotions but was able to channel them, go out there and have a lot of fun with those guys.”
Wentz is the first quarterback in NFL history to start at least one game with six different teams in six consecutive seasons. The No. 2 overall draft pick in 2016 out of North Dakota State, Wentz became an immediate starter for the Philadelphia Eagles. By his second year, he was a Pro Bowler and an MVP candidate before a left ACL tear ended his season. Despite Wentz’s injury, the Eagles ran through the playoffs behind backup Nick Foles and won Super Bowl LII.
Wentz has never quite been able to sustain the excellence he demonstrated on the field before his injury, and he’s been primarily a backup since 2021. The perspective and experience he’s brought into each locker room, however, has been highly prized. In Minnesota, he’s been tasked with mentoring second-year quarterback J.J. McCarthy, but now McCarthy is out with a high ankle sprain suffered in Week 2.
And although Wentz is relishing his opportunity to start and to keep the Vikings’ ship afloat as McCarthy recovers, he knows football is not the most important thing in his life.
Wentz was asked in Sunday’s press conference about a moment he had with his wife, Maddie, and his three daughters.
“For me to come out and just get that breath of fresh air with just my family reminded me to put my brain and my mind in that perspective of there’s so much more to life than just this football game,” he responded. “That kind of helps me have a comfort when I go out and play with a little sense of peace that’s a little different.”
Wentz has stated throughout his career that his faith in Christ is his top priority in life, and he made that clear once again on Sunday as he wore an Audience of One hat to his press conference. The phrase “Audience of One” (AO1) is commonly used by Christ-following athletes who seek to perform for God and His glory rather than for anyone else, and also the name of Wentz’s foundation.
On his Instagram account on Monday, Wentz posted photos from his Vikings debut. His caption read in part, “Just another reminder that God’s got a plan and is the author of our story!”
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“My relationship with Jesus has meant everything to me,” Wentz told Sports Spectrum at the Super Bowl with the Kansas City Chiefs last season. “… [The Super Bowl] is definitely a platform I feel God’s given me, and other guys, to make sure that people use it to spread His name — to make Him famous. Again, life’s not all about us.”
"My relationship with Jesus has meant everything to me."
Current Chiefs QB and former Eagles QB Carson Wentz joined @MattForte22 at #SuperBowl Opening Night in New Orleans. pic.twitter.com/KOm4mnijr1
— Sports Spectrum (@Sports_Spectrum) February 4, 2025
Wentz launched the AO1 Foundation in the summer of 2017, before his second NFL season, with a mission of “uplifting individuals and communities around the world by demonstrating God’s love for His people.”
Thousands of people have been served by the various ministries of AO1, from superfans to people in need on the streets of Philadelphia to young children in Haiti. It’s work Wentz is happy to do because of the joy that comes with a true relationship with his Heavenly Father.
“Because of how much He loves me, He was willing to allow His Son to go through the agony of dying on that cross,” Wentz told Sports Spectrum for Football Sunday 2021. “And I think that is when the peace just rushes over me and I think, ‘All right God, there is so much more at play than the X’s and O’s of football, and the highs and lows of wins and losses, and that gives me peace.'”
Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell announced that Wentz will be the team’s starter again in Week 4, when Minnesota travels to Dublin, Ireland, for a game against the Pittsburgh Steelers (2-1). Kickoff is set for Sunday at 9:30 a.m. ET.
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