Chiefs vs. Vikings: 3 takeaways from hard fought win
October 9th, 2023, 6:15 PM CST • By Ryan J. Van Dever
Two high-powered offenses match up in this late afternoon marquee game on Sunday. The Chiefs will soon take the gridiron on the road again, traveling to U.S. Bank Stadium. The scoreboard will be lit up with Patrick Mahomes, Kirk Cousins, Justin Jefferson, and Travis Kelce. The offenses will be at the center of attention, and this will not be a defensive battle.
The Chiefs may be confronting their most challenging adversarial offense so far, but keep the Vikings' defense secret that this game is about offenses. Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores absolutely treasures the blitz and has made a career out of it. That could be problematic, as Patrick Mahomes loves to be blitzed.
Will Brian Flores change his stripes for the Chiefs offense, and if he does, can the Vikings bring pressure without sending additional rushers? As the season wears on, the Vikings' defense will improve with their schemes and blitz packages, but this game will all be decided by Mahomes' mantra, "Take what the defense gives you." It's up to the Vikings to give him as little as humanly feasible.
Of course, let's not forget that there's also potential for some off-field fireworks, with the actuality of Taylor Swift looming at every Chiefs game.
1. Defenses ruled the day
The defenses ruled the day in the first half, and explosive plays seemed non-existent. The Vikings, whose defense was known coming into this game for pressuring the quarterback by way of the blitz, were in zone coverages most of the day to keep Mahomes from causing too much damage.
Both teams fought valiantly, but the Vikings lost the game against the Kansas City Chiefs by a score of 27-20.
Overall, the defense did an excellent job for the Vikings. They both pressured Patrick Mahomes while keeping him contained. Yes, Mahomes still made plays, but the defense made him earn every inch.
Not having Bolton on this road trip hampered the Chiefs' defense, as they regressed when it came to rushing Kirk Cousins. Besides the occasional pressure from Chris Jones, no other player has been able to get any pressure on Kirk Cousins when rushing their front four.
What made no sense to me was that the Chiefs were only rushing four at the Vikings, with no Jefferson in the game. That would have been the perfect opportunity to put together some blitz packages and some added pressure on Kirk Cousins. There were many tipped passes today in the secondary, but none turned into interceptions.
2. The offenses for both teams sputtered
Coming into this game, the Vikings were allowing 342.4 yards per game, so they were prime for the picking with the Mahomes and company coming to town, but the opposite happened in this game. The Vikings forced the Chiefs to complete passes that were underneath zones.
Patrick Mahomes lobbed two touchdown passes in the third quarter, one to Travis Kelce after the All-Pro tight end shortly exited the game with an ankle injury.
Mahomes went 31 for 41 for 281 yards with no turnovers in what would be his most efficient performance of the season for the Chiefs (4-1), who once again won while not at their best.
Even though the Chiefs won the game, their offense did not play at its zenith. The Chiefs still need help finding playmakers in the passing game. There is no true No. 1 wide receiver on the roster. This offense is yet a work in progress.
Kirk Cousins threw for touchdowns to Jordan Addison and Alexander Mattison for the Vikings (1-4). They had two opportunities at the tying touchdown in the final five minutes. Still, a late hamstring injury to star wide receiver Justin Jefferson and a deficiency of timeouts from earlier game mismanagement were eventually too great to overcome.
3. Turning points of the game
The Vikings burned their last timeout with 9:05 left in the fourth quarter because of a personnel change on the 4th-and-1. The Chiefs were playing a game of chess, and the Vikings fell for it hook, line, and sinker; the irony is that they didn't even go for it on fourth down, but they got them to burn that timeout, which they would eventually regret as they needed that timeout in the waning seconds of the game.
The game's turning point was a fourth down in the fourth quarter. Mahomes dropped back and threw it deep to Justin Watson, and the safety from the Vikings, Harrison Smith, was penalized with defensive pass interference. That drive resulted in a Travis Kelce touchdown, which would end up being the game-winner, and a catastrophic penalty.
Up Next:
The Kansas City Chiefs host the Denver Broncos on Thursday night, which should be a hard-fought battle as rival games bring different emotions for both teams. This should be one Slobber knocker of a fight!
The Minnesota Vikings visit the Chicago Bears next Sunday in what should be a will of wills type of game; with Justin Jefferson now injured and put on the Injured Reserve (IR), the Vikings will now need the run game to get going more than ever, and for Kirk Cousins to be flawless in his performance against the Bears.
The Bears are seeking their second straight win after beating the Washington Commanders 40-20 on Thursday Night Football in an absolute drubbing of a Commanders team that was on the rise.