Chiefs hang on to defeat Vikings
Tyler Brown
Things were looking grim at half time for the Kansas City Chiefs. It was not that the game was tied at 13 or that they were caught up on because of another fake punt, but that star tight end Travis Kelce had just left the game for what looked like a fairly serious non-contact injury.
Kelce caught a ball near the line of scrimmage and fell to the ground grimacing immediately after his first or second step on what would have been an easy first down. It was reported that it was a right foot or lower leg injury. Luckily for the Kansas City Chiefs (4-1), Kelce gutted it out and played a huge role in their 27-20 victory over the Minnesota Vikings (1-4).
The Chiefs marched right down the field on the opening drive of the second half and never looked back. The following drive for the Vikings ended in a three-and-out and then entered Kelce.
On the third play of that Kansas City drive, Kelce made a huge third down catch on a jump ball that was reminiscent of David Tyree’s helmet catch in Super Bowl 54. Kelce and quarterback Patrick Mahomes connected for five catches, 45 yards and a touchdown on that drive. That put them ahead 27-13 and while they never added to the scoreboard again, it was enough to win the game.
“I knew he was trying to get back in,” Mahomes said. “I feel like Travis has the same mindset as I do. If you give him a window of if he can get back in the game, he’s going to get back in the game. Competitor, man. That’s why he’s one of the greatest. He will battle through stuff like that and came back and made a lot of great catches for us.”
The Vikings put together a scoring drive and made it a one-score game with just over 12 minutes to go. Minnesota’s second-to-last drive ended with a well-timed cornerback blitz coming from Trent McDuffie on third down and then a pass breakup from L’Jarius Sneed on fourth down deep in Kansas City territory.
The Vikings got the ball back with one minute and seven seconds to go but without any time-outs. They marched the ball down as deep as the Kansas City 38, but defensive end Mike Danna sacked Minnesota quarterback Kirk Cousins as time expired to seal the deal.
The Chiefs' defense played good complimentary football to go along with the offense that had a much better game than they did last week. The big storyline coming into the game is how they would slow down the NFL’s leading receiver Justin Jefferson. Sneed lined up over him with help from the safeties most of the day and impressively enough they held Jefferson to three catches and 28 yards.
“Man, we put LJ (L’Jarius Sneed) on whoever the best receiver is week in and week out, it doesn’t matter if its Calvin Ridley, Justin Jefferson, whoever he goes out and plays his game,” safety Justin Reid said. “I know those guys see the tape and he’s aggressive and physical and he’s an old school corner that you don’t see anymore, so he puts his hands on people and that throws guys off of their game and I think he did hell of a job today.
Jefferson did go out with a hamstring injury early in the fourth quarter but was shutdown, nonetheless. Minnesota came in averaging over 374 yards per game and the Kansas City defense held them to 329 and 20 points in a game where the Vikings were trailing the majority of the second half. While Minnesota is 1-4, they were a playoff team last season and have a prolific offense and head coach Andy Reid knew the Chiefs could not sleepwalk through this one.
“Yeah, they’re a tough bunch,” Reid said. “I appreciate that, too … We’re working on getting better, and this was a team that we really respected and what they’ve done, so we knew it wasn’t going to be an easy battle.”
The Chiefs had what was by far their season-high in pass breakups, with eight. Along with Danna, both defensive tackle and linebacker Leo Chenal came down with a sack. Jones is averaging over a sack per game in the four games he has played in this season.
The Kansas City offense was able to get on the board first because safety Justin Reid caused a fumble on the first play of the game. Fellow safety Bryan Cook recovered it to set up an Isiah Pacheco touchdown.
After slowly ascending every week and getting tackled on the one-yard line a few times in past weeks, rookie wide receiver Rashee Rice also found the endzone. Rice caught a slant around the two-yard line and would not be denied the endzone as he gave the Chiefs the lead coming out of the half. Rice ended up catching four of his five targets for 33 yards.
Kelce led the team in yards with 67 on 10 catches, but Mahomes completed passes to 10 different receivers Sunday afternoon. Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores has called more blitzes than any other defense in the league by a wide margin and Mahomes made him pay more than a few times.
He sent a cover zero blitz on a third and 18 and Mahomes hit wide receiver Justin Watson for 33 yards as he made a really nice play along the boundary, keeping both feet in bounds. The Chiefs leading wide receiver so far this season led them in yards this game with 56.
One of the most exciting developments in this game is second-year wide receiver Justyn Ross got involved more than he has so far this season. He made his entrance known when he went up and over Vikings defensive back Mekhi Blackmon for a 20-yard gain in the Chiefs second drive of the game. That drive resulted in kicker Harrison Butker’s first of his two made field goal attempts of the game.
“I think we’re just trying to find ways to integrate him (Justyn Ross) in the offense,” Mahomes said. “ … We see what he can do and the plays he can make. We’re trying to do whatever we can to put him in positions to go out there and make those plays.”
Wide receiver Kadarius Toney was used more in this game as well, hauling in five catches for 26 yards. Mahomes took what the defense gave him all day, ending the game going 31 for 41, with 281 yards, two touchdowns and zero interceptions following his worst performance of the season last week against the New York Jets. Pacheco led the Chiefs in rushing, with 55 yards.
The Kansas City Chiefs have a quick turnaround as they welcome the Denver Broncos (1-4) to town for Thursday Night Football in week six. The game will be held at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium and Chiefs Kingdom will have the place rocking to see if their team can beat the Broncos for the 16th consecutive time. The game will be streamed on Amazon Prime at 7:15 p.m. CDT.
