BELT TO ASS

VIKINGS 48

BENGALS 10

Sunday's game felt like a pivot point in this young Vikings season. Win and we could keep up optimism that this season can still be something fun. Lose, and we might be sinking towards oblivion.

Well then!

Not only did the Vikings win, but they won by the largest margin they have since 1998. And dropped the all-time most lopsided loss for the Bengals. It was 48-3 after 3 quarters!

Coming in it was the battle of the backups. The Bengals lost Joe Burrow last week to another major injury, and were starting ex-Viking Jake Browning. And the Vikings lost JJ McCarthy to an ankle sprain suffered late in last week's debacle, and were turning to Carson Wentz, who has barely been here a month and would start for his 6th different team in 6 years.

Browning orchestrated a big comeback on us 2 years ago, and Wentz hasn't been relied on as a regular starter in 3 years, so this figured to be a close one. I was just hoping for a little stability, and let the defense do its thing.

I can't say how much of a relief it was to see Wentz make his 1st completion on the opening drive, just to see a ball out quickly. Competence! And aided by a couple of Bengal penalties, the Vikings drove to their first of many touchdowns, a short pass to Josh Oliver. 

The Vikings' defense had been largely hanging in there the 1st 2 games, keeping games winnable as the offense mucked around. This time, they were a force. Massive pressure right away on Browning, and on their 2nd series, a massive impact play when some of that pressure made Browning run and force a bad pass that was pick sixed for 87 yards by Isaiah Rodgers.

The Bengals were shook, and never seriously in the game again. Only for a tiny moment late in the half did they even midly threaten to make it a game again, but then Rodgers came through again, punching out a fumble and running THIS back for another touchdown. Somehow, despite all the Vikings' defensive standouts through the years, this was the 1st time anybody scored 2 defensive touchdowns in a single game.

The Bengals, now down 24-3, stayed turnover happy. Ja'Marr Chase fumbled (forced by Rodgers), and the Vikings quickly drove to another TD, Jordan Mason's 1st in purple. 31-3.

The onslaught still wasn't done. The Bengals fumbled AGAIN on their next play (Rodgers let Jalen Redmond force this one), and because why not, Will Reichard bombed a franchise record 62 yard field goal at the gun for a crazy 34-3 lead.

Rodgers was the headliner (he also had a terrific tip away on the Bengals lone scoring drive), but everybody was in on the destruction.

The 2nd half was less crazy, but the Vikings didn't do the Vikings thing of sitting on a big lead and letting a team back into it. It wasn't even like running up the score. You have a QB who's been here a month. You need to run your offense and get him work. The run game did a lot of the work, with Mason rolling up over 100 yards, but Wentz also distributed the ball very well. Mason's 2nd TD and TJ Hockenson's 1st concluded the Vikings scoring. Josh Metellus picked off Browning for the last of Cincy's 5 turnovers. The Vikings haven't forced so many since 2019. 

The Vikings looked set to hit 50 points for the 1st time since 1998, but KOC called off the dogs and actually gave the 4th quarter to Max Brosmer. The Bengals did get in the endzone, but it was still a historic drubbing.

The Vikings did get a few pieces back in this game, most importantly Christian Darrisaw, and Harrison Smith saw the field for the 1st time. It still isn't the full roster (a few starters are hurt, and Addison served the last game of his suspension), but as a sign of what this team COULD be...wow! And I make no apologies for doing this against Browning, cause he beat us in 2023 and he can play. Bengals still have a lot of talent. 

About the only negative was 13 penalties, a lot of them on the OL for various procedural issues. Gotta think it's one of the largest wins ever by a team with so many penalties. 

We'll see what happens with Wentz. I don't think he was so overwhelmingly good that it's his job to lose when McCarthy is deemed healthy. But this thing just was not functioning with McCarthy, and if you can go win these next 2 games overseas you are at worst going to be tied for first after the bye (the Packers lost to the Browns😂😂😂), with a brutal schedule after that. Do you really want to risk it?