Souhan: This Rodgers goes on a scoring spree for the Vikings

We all knew, all along, that if the Vikings wanted to score a lot of points this year, they’d need a free agent named Rodgers. Preferably, one with copious vowels in his first name.

Sunday, in the Vikings’ 48-10 victory over Cincinnati at U.S. Bank Stadium, cornerback Isaiah Rodgers produced one of the most productive and spectacular games by a defensive player in franchise, if not NFL, history.

He became a Purple People Repeater, becoming the first player in league history to produce two defensive touchdowns and two forced fumbles in the same game.

He did all of that in the first half.

“That’s crazy,” he said. “I was shocked when I seen it on the big screen.”

In the first quarter, Vikings safety Harrison Smith tipped a pass from Bengals quarterback Jake Browning into Rodgers’ hands, and Rodgers displayed his most obvious asset — speed.

Rodgers returned the interception 87 yards for a touchdown, easily outrunning everyone on the field.

Late in the first half, Bengals tight end Noah Fant caught a pass in front of the Cincinnati sideline. Rodgers caught up to him and not only punched the ball free, but to himself. He picked it up and ran 66 yards, again untouched, for a score. About 30 seconds of game time later, he punched out another one that the Vikings recovered.

“I’ve never seen anything like that,” said Smith, in his 14th NFL season. “That was all, literally, one half. Two punch-outs in one game, and that punch-out that he scored on was exceptional.

“It looks easy when it happens, and you just pick it up and score, but it’s so hard when a big guy is there and you’re trying to make the tackle. … The hand-eye coordination required is very, very high."

In two plays, Rodgers produced 156 yards and two scores, momentarily giving him the team lead in touchdowns.

His line: Three tackles, one interception, two passes defensed, two forced fumbles, one recovered fumble and two touchdowns.

Defensive players don’t get to ask that question often, but the Vikings want their players to be part Mike Singletary, part Mike Tyson.

“We had a turnover drill this week, practicing on punching out the ball,” Rodgers said. “I saw that [Fant] had it a little loose, and I wanted to take my shot.”

Rodgers’ interception return was the longest by the Vikings since Xavier Rhodes went 100 yards in 2016. “That’s actually my mentor,” Rodgers said of Rhodes. “We played together in Indy, and he was here today, so I’m definitely going to reach out to him.”

In March, the Vikings signed Rodgers, who was on the Eagles’ Super Bowl team last season, to a two-year contract worth $15 million. That preceded the breathless speculation about the Vikings being interested in signing quarterback Aaron Rodgers.

There is a chance that the Vikings will eventually regret not having signed A-Rodg; there is little doubt that they are happy with I-Rodg, a seeming bargain at one of football’s most important positions.

This particular standard didn’t exist until Sunday.

We’ll never know how this game would have turned out if Rodgers hadn’t made three dramatic plays.

His interception turned a likely Bengals score into a Vikings touchdown.

His punch-and-run score victimizing Fant turned another Bengals scoring opportunity into a Vikings touchdown.

On the Bengals’ next possession, Rodgers punched the ball out of the hands of Bengals star Ja’Marr Chase, leading to another Vikings touchdown and a 31-3 lead a few plays later.