The last time Isaiah Rodgers was at U.S. Bank Stadium (prior to this season), he was a part of NFL history.

Unfortunately for Rodgers, he was on the other side of it that day during the 2022 season; the cornerback was a member of an Indianapolis Colts team that saw the Minnesota Vikings rally from a 33-0 halftime deficit and earn a 39-36 overtime victory, completing the largest comeback ever seen in the sport.

It's certainly a half of football that Rodgers would rather forget. On Sunday against the Cincinnati Bengals, he replaced it with one he'll always remember.

Rodgers’ “spectacular” performance – highlighted by an 87-yard pick six, a forced fumble and recovery he took 66 yards the other way for a score, and another fumble he caused (all in the first half) – helped the Vikings rout the Bengals 48-10.

Rodgers not only became the first NFL player (since at least 1991 when forced fumbles became part of the full play-by-play data) with two defensive scores and forced fumbles in the same game, he became the first player in Vikings history to record a pair of defensive touchdowns in a single contest. Coincidentally, during that 2022 game against the Colts, Rodgers nearly witnessed former Vikings CB Chandon Sullivan return two fumbles for touchdowns, only for both plays to be called back (one ruled for forward progress and the other ruled down by contact).

Sunday's victory not only lifted Minnesota into a tie for first in the NFC North with Detroit and Green Bay, but it helped the Vikings move up in this week's power rankings. Here's a look at where the Vikings landed heading into Week 4:

No. 15 (up 4 spots): Eric Edholm, NFL.com

Even if the Bengals were their own worst enemies on Sunday, the Vikings showed enough with Carson Wentz at the helm to have reasonable hope they can hold the fort until J.J. McCarthy's return. Wentz was sharp early, cooled off and then heated back up in a net-positive performance. Even while taking three sacks, Wentz kept the chains moving by finding open guys. Minnesota's run game (even without Aaron Jones, Sr.) and the defense did a lot of the heavy lifting, with two defensive touchdowns and five turnovers giving the offense all the opportunities they needed and then some. Thirteen penalties, most of them on offense, were a bummer, and it will give Kevin O'Connell his white-board point for the week ahead of the big Euro duo against the Steelers and Browns prior to the early bye. If the Vikings can make it back home with a winning record, they'll be in far better shape to handle the most lethal part of the schedule after the bye. Sunday showed it was too soon to punt on Minnesota.

No. 15 (up 4 spots): Kris Knox, Bleacher Report

Let's not go overboard about Kevin O'Connell's ability to coach up quarterbacks or the possibility of Carson Wentz being the next great QB comeback story. Wentz did operate O'Connell's offense efficiently in Week 3, but it was Minnesota's defense that dominated.

The Vikings also got strong contributions from Jordan Mason and the ground game, days after starter Aaron Jones was placed on Injured Reserve.

That's noteworthy because Minnesota is going to get rookie mistakes out of J.J. McCarthy when he's healthy enough to return. If the Vikings can support McCarthy with great defense and a strong running game – as they did in Week 1 – they can stay in the playoff picture while continuing to develop their young quarterback.

No. 13 (up 4 spots): Pete Prisco, CBS Sports

If [the Vikings] play defense like they did against the Bengals, it won't matter who plays quarterback. But Carson Wentz played well with what he was asked to do.

No. 15 (up 7 spots): Nate Davis, USA Today

Next up, the league's first regular-season game in Ireland? On the football front, WR2 Jordan Addison [rejoined] the team for its two-game European swing.

No. 14 (up 8 spots): Josh Kendall, The Athletic

Kevin O'Connell picked up Carson Wentz four weeks ago, and even with limited practice reps and basically no training camp, Wentz guided the Vikings to a blowout win while throwing for two touchdowns and averaging 8.7 yards per pass. At this point, it would be fun to see which quarterback you could drop onto this roster with O'Connell and still win a game.

No. 14 (up 2 spots): Conor Orr, Sports Illustrated

The return of Harrison Smith has been a game-changer for this defense and absolutely ripped apart a quality backup in Jake Browning. I wrote about Smith, and one of the most spectacular defensive plays I've seen in a long time, right here.

No. 13 or 14 (up 3 or 4 spots): Vinnie Iyer, Sporting News

(Writer's note: Iyer's article has two teams ranked No. 12 and none at the No. 16 spot. He doesn't address the tie in this week's rankings, so the Vikings are either No. 13 or No. 14).

The Vikings can be unstoppable when they are swarming defensively and getting sacks and takeaways at a high rate for Brian Flores. Carson Wentz also got a nice break with Jordan Mason and the big running game.

No. 13 (up 3 spots): Frank Schwab, Yahoo! Sports

The Vikings aren't going anywhere. They need to figure out how to get good, consistent quarterback play. Their defense remains top notch. That showed against the Bengals. This is still a playoff-level roster, especially when it gets healthy.

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