The Minnesota Vikings fought until the bitter end but it wasn’t enough as they ultimately fell to the Kansas City Chiefs 27-20.
Once Minnesota fell behind early, it never felt that they were going to make up the ground to beat Kansas City. There were opportunities to be had that the Vikings will want back but overall this team competed well with a Super Bowl contender in the Chiefs.
Buy Vikings TicketsHowever, with the injury to Justin Jefferson, things seem bleak for a Vikings team that is struggling coming out of the gate.
Amid a gritty performance from Minnesota, there were still some positives to take away and a few negatives for them to discuss next week.
Stock up: Run defense
After running rampant on the New York Jets defense for 204 yards, this Minnesota defense only allowed yards to this red-hot rushing attack.
Isiah Pacheco and company had success early but the Minnesota defense stepped up on crucial short-yardage moments to try to get the Chiefs off the field.
On a third-and-one in the middle of the third quarter, Dean Lowry stuffs Pacheco on an outside run and forces a crucial fourth-and-one that Kansas City converted on a Harrison Smith defensive pass interference. In the fourth quarter, the line stuffs Pacheco on a similar run to get the ball back with roughly nine minutes to go and down only a touchdown.
Stock down: Resource management
The way that Kevin O’Connell used his timeouts in the second half made a comeback virtually impossible for the Vikings. After burning one early on a defensive miscommunication, O’Connell questionably challenged a questionable Kelce catch that ended up in the hands of Josh Metellus somehow. Even on the replay, it was pretty clear that Kelce held on to the ball through the ground.
Alas, the potential of a game-changing turnover was too much for O’Connell to turn down and ended up burning the second timeout. The third and final timeout was burned on a fourth-and-one play that the Chiefs ended up not even running. But, it’s still ultimately a success for Kansas City as they got Minnesota to use that last timeout and make any chance of a comeback much more difficult.
Stock up: Kirk Cousins
When players play against the cream of their crop at their position, there will be pressure to play at their best. With that, players can either fold under the pressure or they can rise to the occasion, Kirk Cousins did the latter.
Cousins was impressive as he went for 29-for-47 for 284 yards and two touchdowns on the day. But, more than his almost 300-yard day, Cousins looked calm and composed in the pocket all day.
His pocket navigation allowed him to find second-and-third options later in the play. The ability to extend the play was something that we had not seen a lot of from Cousins this season.
Stock down: Byron Murphy, Jr.
Today was a day to forget for Byron Murphy, Jr.
It seemed that when Kansas City made it to the red zone, they looked for where Murphy was lined up. Murphy let up two touchdowns inside the five-yard line to Rashee Rice and Travis Kelce.
When the field gets compressed, it gets tough to keep teams out of the end zone, especially offenses with the creativity of the Chiefs. But, when you pay a player $12.6 million guaranteed for two years, you expect them to make those looks a bit tougher. Murphy has struggled a bit through the first stages of this season and needs to step up to become the number one-corner this defense needs.
Stock up: Jordan Addison
With Justin Jefferson’s availability in question, the performance that we saw from rookie Jordan Addison gives a little solace to the situation.
Addison had six receptions for 64 yards on nine targets and a touchdown on the day. His nuanced route-running was on display on a couple of whip-routes that got him open in key situations.
Even on his touchdown, he split two Chiefs defenders as he traversed the back line of the end zone and found space for Cousins to hit him in stride.
Addison looks comfortable as a number-two receiver option in this offense, but it will be a question if he can step up to a number-one receiver/number-two option behind T.J. Hockenson.
Stock down: Untimely mistakes
When going against a team like Kansas City, every possession matters. So, starting the game with a Josh Oliver fumble was simply not ideal. What seems to be a trend for the Vikings, the tight end was fighting for extra yardage and had the ball ripped out. That makes 12 turnovers in five games for Minnesota.
Coming out of the half, Marcus Davenport and Danielle Hunter worked together to sack Patrick Mahomes. After Kadarius Toney gained no yards, the Chiefs were facing a third-and-eighteen and getting no points coming out of the half. Mahomes was pressured yet again and just throws it up in the direction of Justin Watson. Somehow, Watson comes down with it at midfield and gains 33 yards when the Vikings needed the football.
These types of mistakes cannot continue to happen. This isn’t winning football. Hopefully, the Vikings can take advantage of a lesser opponent next week in the Chicago Bears. A perfect opportunity to right these turnover woes for the remainder of the season.
