Analysis: In a surprising about-face, the Vikings become the team they hoped to be

Four takeaways before halftime. Two defensive touchdowns from the same player in the game’s first 29 minutes. Seventeen points in the last 1:47 of the second quarter. The turnovers and points piled up with such ease, even the Vikings’ most seasoned players were left speechless.

“I’m still at a loss for words,” safety Josh Metellus said. “I kept thinking it was like practice. I was like, ‘Ain’t no way we’re touching the ball this much. He can’t be scoring touchdowns — [there] ain’t no whistle.’ It was crazy.”

The Vikings’ condition, before Sunday’s game with the Bengals, also provided few tells that the team’s biggest win since 1998 was incoming. A team that had scored six points in a Sunday night home opener the week before was preparing to start a quarterback it had acquired less than a month earlier, readying a center for his first NFL start and gauging how extensively it could use three key starters on their way back from injury.

“It was not too long ago we didn’t have a good taste in our mouth in that very locker room,” coach Kevin O’Connell said. “Sometimes, it’s just a reality check on figuring out exactly who you want to be as a team.”

If the 48-10 margin by which the Vikings (2-1) beat the Bengals on Sunday seemed surprising, so did the fact that a team that had appeared so discombobulated through two weeks could suddenly snap into form.

Wentz capably played “point guard,” as O’Connell put it, completing 14 of his 20 passes for 173 yards and two touchdowns before handing fourth-quarter QB duties over to rookie Max Brosmer with the Vikings up 38.

“That’s what I want to do when I go out there,” Wentz said. “I don’t want to be the one making plays; I just want to get it to these playmakers. That’s always been my philosophy, and we’ve got some good ones here.”

The Vikings, who’d had 452 offensive yards total their first two games, had 352 on Sunday, running 31 times for 169 yards while holding the ball for just over 30 minutes. They committed 13 penalties for 105 yards, and Wentz was sacked three times as he held the ball and the Vikings’ protection unit showed cracks early. But as the offense settled while the defense seized the ball, the Vikings built a lead sizable enough for their starting QB to join most of their defensive starters on the sideline in the fourth quarter, watching the rest of the game with a baseball cap and a towel around his neck.

“We definitely needed that,” edge rusher Jonathan Greenard said. “In football, there are just so many different waves and stuff like that. You’ve just got to be able to weather every single storm. But we started fast. We don’t have to be in those tough, nitty gritty games at the end.”

Those close games have become almost weekly occurrences for the Vikings under O’Connell, and this week’s changes on offense suggested they might be in for another one against Cincinnati (2-1). In meetings the night before the game, though, coaches and players stressed a fast start, scoring first for the first time this season and seizing the momentum that had eluded them against the Bears and Falcons.

After taking the opening kickoff, the Vikings delivered a seven-play, 64-yard drive that had them in the end zone in just over two minutes. Left tackle Christian Darrisaw, playing for the first time since last October’s knee surgery, delivered a key block on the opening play that sprang Mason for a 10-yard gain. The Bengals contributed another 20 yards of penalties on the first two snaps, and Wentz hit Justin Jefferson over the middle for 16 yards.

Three plays later, Wentz hit Josh Oliver for a 12-yard touchdown, and Prince’s “Let’s Go Crazy” rang over the U.S. Bank Stadium sound system for the first time this season. Oliver matched the stadium’s fireworks with a thunderous spike and Jefferson mirrored him, punching the air in perfect rhythm with Oliver spiking the ball.

The Vikings punted on their next two drives, when Wentz was sacked twice and Darrisaw committed the first of five false starts. But with the Bengals at the Vikings 29, the defense delivered its first play that would change the game.

Safety Harrison Smith, playing his first game this season after returning from a personal health matter, dropped into zone coverage on second-and-9 and got a finger on Jake Browning’s throw for running back Chase Brown. Smith tipped it to Rodgers, who caught it before placing his left hand on the turf to steady himself. The former high school sprinter eclipsed 20 mph as he raced down the left sideline for an 87-yard touchdown that put the Vikings up 14-0.

“I’ve been saying it all week: I just want to showcase who Isaiah Rodgers is, and who Isaiah Rodgers can be,” the cornerback said.

The Vikings signed Rodgers to a two-year deal worth just over $11 million in March, after defensive coordinator Brian Flores saw a corner with the speed and “sticky coverage” skills to transcend his 5-foot-10, 178-pound frame.

“We sat down and watched him, and quite frankly, I was pretty surprised that we were going to have a legitimate chance to get him,” O’Connell said, adding, “I know he’s been impactful wherever he’s ever been. It’s the consistency of getting the opportunity, and what a performance today. Just spectacular.”

NFL standings

With the Vikings up 17-3 at the two-minute warning, Rodgers punched the ball out of tight end Noah Fant’s hands and corralled it on the ground before leaping to his feet and pulling away from hapless Bengals pursuers on the way to 66-yard touchdown.

That score made it 24-3, and Rodgers struck once more before halftime, forcing a Ja’Marr Chase fumble that set up Mason’s first TD run to put the Vikings up 31-3.

After yet another Bengals fumble (this one caused by Jalen Redmond), Will Reichard finished the half with a 62-yard field goal, which eclipsed Greg Joseph’s 61-yard game-winner against the Giants in 2022 for the longest in Vikings history. It was 34-3, and the Bengals were practically vanquished.

“It’s nothing crazy about it,” Smith said. “Everybody’s just doing their job, playing with enthusiasm. When it’s working, that’s what it looks like.”

Watch the postgame “Access Vikings”: