Kansas City Chiefs win fourth in a row, beat Minnesota Vikings 27-20
The Kansas City Chiefs rode another impressive outing from their defense and an improved effort from their offense en route to a 27-20 win over the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday afternoon.
With the win, the Chiefs are now winners of four games in a row and are 4-1 for this season. The Vikings, meanwhile, are just 1-4, tying their total number of losses from last season.
“This was a team that we really respected and what they’ve done, and we knew it wasn’t going to be an easy battle,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said.
Kansas City’s defense was dominant again, allowing just 20 points for the second week in a row, which is their season high allowed (the Detroit Lions scored 21 points against the Chiefs in Week 1, but seven of those points were scored by their defense). The Chiefs limited the Vikings to just 329 yards from scrimmage, their second-lowest total of the season, sacked quarterback Kirk Cousins three times and turned them over once, which was enough to win the turnover battle.
One of the sacks, courtesy of defensive end Mike Danna, came on the final play of the game when Minnesota was setting up for a Hail Mary heave to the end zone.
“I think it’s a fair trade. We keep them under 20 points, offense scores more than 20 points, we win the game,” defensive tackle Chris Jones said. “If that’s way it can go all season it’s going to be a heck of a season.”
Offensively, it was the second-highest scoring game of the year for the reigning Super Bowl champions. Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes went 31-of-41 passing in the win for 281 yards and two touchdowns, good for a 109.9 passer rating. Tight end Travis Kelce was his top target, hauling in 10 of his 11 targets for 67 yards and a touchdown.
Kelce briefly had to leave the game due to an injury, but came back in to help propel the Chiefs to victory.
“I feel like Travis has the same mindset as I do, you give him a window like he can get back in the game, he’s going to be back in the game,” Mahomes said regarding his favorite target. “Competitor, man. That’s why he’s one of the greatest, is that he’ll battle through stuff like that and came back and made a lot of great catches for us.”
While Kelce was the focal point of the passing game, the Chiefs were able to get several of their younger receivers involved in key roles. Rookie Rashee Rice caught his second touchdown pass of the year as part of a four-catch afternoon, while Justyn Ross, the former undrafted receiver out of Clemson, hauled in two passes for 28 yards.
In total, 10 different Chiefs caught passes in Sunday’s win, eight of whom tallied multiple receptions.
Kansas City has a short turnaround this week, as the Chiefs will host the Denver Broncos in four days on Thursday Night Football. The Broncos are just 1-4 to start the season and lost to the New York Jets this weekend 31-21. Kickoff for Thursday’s game is scheduled for 7:15 p.m. and will be televised on Amazon Prime nationally, as well as on KSHB-TV in the Kansas City market.
For more on the Kansas City Chiefs’ 27-20 win over the Minnesota Vikings, check out 580 Sports Talk Monday afternoon from 2-6 on 580 WIBW.
