Myles Price turned a routine punt into the first punt return touchdown of the 2026 NFL season, racing 86 yards to the end zone and pushing the Vikings ahead 10-0 with 8:43 left in the first quarter.
The return began when Price fielded a Riley Dixon punt at his own 14-yard line, then broke free for the first touchdown of his NFL career. The play arrived after the Vikings had already opened with a seven-play, 40-yard drive that ended in a Will Reichard field goal, with Justin Jefferson catching two passes for 32 yards from Kyler Murray on the march.
That earlier drive mattered because it gave Minnesota a foothold before Price’s burst stretched the margin. But the punt return changed the shape of the opening quarter, turning field position into points and putting the Vikings in control before the game had settled. Whether that early cushion held or not, the return itself was the cleanest kind of momentum swing: one snap, one cut, one score.
It also came against a team dealing with a quarterback returning after being cleared from a Week 1 concussion, which gave the moment extra weight even without any further context needed. For Price, the return was the kind of play that can define a season’s first week for a specialist and announce him in a single run. For the Vikings, it was the first special teams touchdown of a young season and a reminder that one explosive return can do more than add seven points.
