Kevin Patra’s takeaways:
Rodgers’ two defensive TDs power Vikings blowout over Burrow-less Bengals. Isaiah Rodgers made it easy on the Player of the Week selectors. The Vikings cornerback was all over the field as the Vikings smothered the Bengals, forcing four turnovers on eight Cincy first-half possessions. In the first quarter, Rogers jumped a tipped ball and sprinted 87 yards to paydirt. After the two-minute warning, the CB punched out the ball from Noah Fant, scooped up the pigskin, and jaunted 66 yards for another score. The next drive, Rodgers created another forced fumble. Rodgers, who came over from Philly in the offseason, not only stabilized the corner slot opposite nickel Byron Murphy, but brought heady playmaking to Brian Flores’ defense. Minny’s D swarmed like sharks to chum against the Joe Burrow-less Bengals. Flores’ crew forced three straight fumbles to end the half, blowing the doors off the game. Even with little to play for over the final two quarters, the Vikings D gave up only one TD and gobbled up four total sacks.Wentz looks comfortable in Vikings offense. Can we call it another successful Kevin O’Connell QB reclamation project already? Carson Wentz ran KOC’s offense with aplomb, not forcing passes and mostly avoiding the negative plays that have characterized his career. He took three sacks early, but starting for a sixth team in six seasons, Wentz played comfortably. He spread the ball around, peppering the middle of the field. The defensive scores made life easy on the Vikings offense, allowing Wentz to play within the system without forcing. It was the best Minnesota’s offense has looked all season. Everything worked. Wentz hit Justin Jefferson on deep in-routes, and he peppered balls to T.J. Hockenson. Jordan Mason blasted through arm-tackle attempts for 116 yards on 16 carries (7.3 YPC) and two TDs. The stats won’t jump off the page, but it was the ideal start for Wentz, a three-quarter demolition, allowing him to get his feet wet in an easy win ahead of a two-week trip overseas.Bengals fumble, stumble, bumble their way to embarrassing loss in first game sans Burrow. Jake Browning needed to steady the ship, not force passes and let his playmakers do the work. He didn’t do that early, forcing a ball that was tipped and wound up a pick-6 the other way. In scoring range, it’s a ball Browning needed to toss into the bench and live for another day. Browning was under constant pressure and struggled to find consistency or downfield action. The fourth quarter INT was the rotten cherry on the turd sundae, but we won’t pin the blowout solely on the QB. The run game was nonexistent, with Chase Brown running 10 times for 3 yards (0.3 YPC), and the fumbles led to the dam breaking. After the two-minute warning, the Bengals were on the move with a chance to cut into a 17-3 deficit. Just as CBS’s Jim Nantz was suggesting the Bengals could make it “interesting” with a score to end the half and then getting the ball after the break, Isiah Rodgers was punching out the ball and scampering the other way for a TD. In four plays to end the half, the Bengals fumbled three times. Wooooooooooof. That’s how a game turns into an embarrassment. Cincy earned just 171 total yards, going 3-of-11 on third downs. If defenses are going to key on the ground game, not fearing Browning, the backup is going to have to make plays in the coming weeks or it will get late early in Cincinnati.
Next Gen Stats Insight for Vikings-Bengals (via NFL Pro): Carson Wentz threw a quick pass (under 2.5 seconds) on 60% of his pass attempts, completing 9 of those 12 passes for 101 yards and two touchdowns. Across Weeks 1-2, J.J. McCarthy attempted a quick pass on just 17.1% of his dropbacks.
NFL Research: The 34-3 halftime deficit was tied for the largest in Bengals history. Cincy was down, 31-0, to the Lions in 1970.