TAMPA — Isaiah Rodgers relished his homecoming and proved to be a hometown hero — for the visiting Vikings.

Rodgers intercepted a deep pass by rookie Jalen Daniels, who was in the game after Baker Mayfield left with an injury late in the fourth quarter. The pick preserved a 23-16 victory

The deep toss occurred on fourth-and-1 from the Tampa Bay 40-yard line. Rodgers, the reigning NFC Special Teams Player of the Week who had purchased 43 tickets for friends and family, secured the ball at the Minnesota 3-yard line amidst a sea of jerseys.

It was his second consecutive week with being involved in a takeaway near Minnesota's goal line, occurring after his key fumble recovery at the 1 at Chicago in Week 2.

Mayfield's right throwing hand hit the arm of Blake Cashman after the Bucs QB scrambled and swashbuckled around the backfield, eluding pressure from Cashman, Eric Wilson and Jalen Redmond. Andrew Van Ginkel corralled the football, reeling in his first interception of 2026.

Mayfield finished 17-of-34 passing with 217 yards, highlighted by a 40-yard TD pass to Ted Hurst III and the INT by Van Ginkel. His passer rating was 67.9.

Since halftime of the Week 1 game against the Packers, the Hurst TD is the only one allowed by the Vikings defense in 31 possessions by opponents.

Minnesota recorded six sacks, 12 quarterback hits and seven passes defensed.

Wilson and Kyle Van Noy each totaled 1.5 sacks, and Cashman finished with 1.0. Van Ginkel, Dallas Turner, Ivan Pace, Jr., and Joshua Metellus each recorded 0.5 sacks, but the two interceptions were critical to salting away the victory on the Gulf Coast.

Here are four more observations.

1. Price Goes Right on Return

Myles Price helped the Vikings open to a faaaast start with an 86-yard punt return for a touchdown.

The second-year pro fielded his first offering from Riley Dixon at the Minnesota 14 with plenty of space thanks to solid blocks, including a great one from Jay Ward. Price knew just what to do, running from north to south quickly before bouncing it to the right and streaking in front of the Buccaneers sideline.

It was Minnesota's first punt return touchdown since Marcus Sherels on Oct. 9, 2016, a 79-yarder in the third game ever at U.S. Bank Stadium.

Price finished with 106 yards on four punt returns, averaging 26.5 per return. He also returned five kickoffs a total of 132 yards, for 238 combined return yards.

2. Special teams in summation

Special teams delivered quite the birthday present for ST Coordinator Matt Daniels.

Will Reichard showed his reliability by finishing Minnesota's first possession with a 54-yard field goal. He also aimed try from 56 yards with 3:10 remaining for a 20-16 edge and provided the game's final points with another 3-pointer from 43 yards with 0:33 remaining.

He has now made 26 consecutive field goals.

Head Coach Kevin O'Connell joked it's almost like setting up Steph Curry for an open trifecta.

What was even more impressive is that Minnesota needed to have veteran Johnny Hekker step in for an injured Brett Thorson, the rookie who suffered a hamstring injury in Week 2.

Hekker handled the clean snaps from Andrew DePaola and allowed Reichard to blast through the footballs on his kicks.

Hekker also punted a whopping eight times for 372 yards, averaging 46.5 with a net average of 41.5. He placed two inside the 20 and recorded a long of 63.

Tampa Bay's Riley Dixon punted nine times for 426 yards, averaging 47.3 per boot but only netting 35.6.

3. Passing game adjusts without Jefferson

Quarterback Kyler Murray made his second start as a Viking and finished 15-of-29 with 168 yards. He threw a 41-yard touchdown to Jordan Addison, who has two scores in as many career games against the Bucs.

Murray started hot and was 6-for-10 with 112 yards at halftime, but he was sub 50-percent in the second half and suffered an interception by A'Shawn Robinson after a pass was tipped at the line of scrimmage.

Tampa Bay took over that possession at the Minnesota 22-yard line but gained just 2 yards before settling for a field goal that made it 17-13 with 7:12 remaining in the third quarter.

Murray finished with a passer rating of 66.5, with his numbers taking a hit after Justin Jefferson left with an ankle injury. Addison finished with five catches for 90 yards, helping Minnesota drive for a 73-yard scoring possession with 71 yards on two catches.

Jefferson tried to return but was unable to. Josh Oliver suffered a biceps injury, and Charles Demmings left the game with a hamstring injury.

4. Tough running

Aaron Jones, Sr., again showed his toughness, churning out 58 yards on 17 carries (3.4 yards per rush) for the second consecutive week without counterpart Jordan Mason, who suffered a hand injury in Week 1.

Aside from Jones, Minnesota was able to get 17 yards on two scrambles by Murray, one rush for 2 from DeeJay Dallas and three carries for 1 net yard by rookie Demond Claiborne.

Minnesota's defense also viced the run game. Tampa Bay finished with 21 rushes for 57 yards (2.7 per carry). The longest run by the Bucs was a 9-yard scramble by Daniels on the game's final possession.

Bonus note: Harrison Smith appeared in his 210^th career game, tying Vikings Legend Fred Cox for third-in team history one week after tying Pro Football Hall of Fame and Ring of Honor defensive end Carl Eller for fourth most in team history.

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