Laddie Morse
The Kansas City Chiefs have beaten the Minnesota Vikings 27-to-20 on their Home field, but the game was once again — uh, how many ways can I find to say the word — ugly. K.C. won the toss, but from that point forward, they had the look of a loser, not a winner. Their record may now be 4-and-1 which helps them stay in a tie for the AFC Conference lead, but I’m not so sure they deserve it.
The Positives
Kicker Harrison Butker got the Chiefs going with a Field Goal:
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TE Travis Kelce had 10 catches and only one drop and gained 67 yards in the process. However, when Kelce went into half time with a sore ankle we didn’t know if it was going to be much worse, or not. He came out in the second half and played but his final stats were still a bit anemic. Patric Mahomes was 31-of-41 for 281 yards passing with 2 TDs and zero INTs. The zero INTs were good to see but the final 27 points were less than I expected.
RT Jawaan Taylor did not have any penalties in this game… and that’s a positive.
The defense began the game with a forced fumble and the offense took over and scored right away. It may have taken nine plays to get into the end zone but a Pacheco run up the middle made it happen.
The defense held WR Justin Jefferson to 28 yards receiving on only 3 catches but he did spend the 4th quarter on the sidelines because of an injury. The Vikings best WR in this game was rookie Jordan Addison who had 6 catches for 64 yards and one TD. Still, that was a positive becasue they held Justin Jefferson — the best Wr in the NFL — to three (3) catches for 28 yards and zero TDs.
3 Sacks – the Chiefs sacked Kirk Cousins three (3) times. Once by Leo Chenal, once by Chris Jones (who now has 3.5 sacks in the four games he’s played in), and a game ending sack by Mike Danna.
The defense forced the Vikings offense to Punt, or go for a Field Goal. or End the Game… on 6 of their possessions.
The Chiefs have now won their fourth game in a row — after losing their opener to the Lions — to go to 4-and-1 on the season.
The best play of the game was a catch by Justin Watson:
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The Negatives
The play of CB L’Jarius Sneed was not great. Yes, he made some big plays but he was also called for a couple of Penalties which came at unfortunate times.
The Chiefs rushing attack was a non-factor with only 67 total yards on a 3.2 average. Not good. Not good at all.
QB Patrick Mahomes was sacked twice, once by Marcus Davenport and once by Danielle Hunter.
K.C. went into the locker room at halftime tied 13-to-13, but the Vikings had briefly taken the lead 13-to-10. Vikes WR Jordan Addison caught a TD pass giving the Vikings a 13-10 lead with 90 seconds left right before the end of the first half. The offense eventually ended up with a 40-yard field goal.
The Chiefs continue to lose the Penalties battle and had 10 calls go against them in this game, for 86 total yards lost. The Vikings had 4 Penalties for 49 yards lost. Once again, a considerable difference.
The Vikings used a fake punt on a 4th-and-2 to gain a first down in the second half. They went on to score a TD.
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Articles by Others
ArrowheadPride: “Chiefs escape Minnesota with 27-20 victory” by Ron Kopp
ArrowheadAddict: “Chiefs survive multiple close calls to beat Vikings on the road” by Matt Conner
AtoZSports: “Chiefs Escape Week 5 Win With No Injuries” by Charles Goldman
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The word “escape” is used often in these above articles, not just the titles. Not sure why but it seems that the Chiefs are winning despite being up against teams who could beat them, they just don’t, for one reason or another.
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Game Ball Goes To…
Harrison Butker kicked his way to 9 points in this game: three extra points and two Field Goals. In fact, Butker hasn’t missed an extra point or a Field Goal this whole season, five games in. Harrison Butker was taken by the Carolina Panthers in the 7th round of the 2017 NFL Draft (the same draft that brought us Patrick Mahomes with the 10th overall pick). Brett Veach claimed Butker off the Panther’s Practice squad when Butker was moved there in Week Two of the 2017 season. The Chiefs have never looked back. Now, there’s no denying that Butker scored enough points in this game against the Vikings to make up the difference in the scoring.
Runner-up for the Game Ball may well be Butker’s Special Teams mate, Punter Tommy Townsend. He did a great job on Sunday.
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Quote of the Game
From Price Carter who used to write for us here at ArrowheadOne:
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“Held an elite offense to 20 points. Shut down
the best WR in football. Gutted out a tough win.
Some teams know how to win and the Chiefs
have proven that [the] last two weeks.”
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Tweet of the Game
From David Ferguson who still writes for us sometimes:
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Growing the Generations
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A 27 to 20 win. A win is a win and I’ll take it.
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Laddie Morse — ArrowheadOne
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