Chiefs vs. Vikings: Grades, Notes and Quotes for Minnesota
The Minnesota Vikings took down the Kansas City Chiefs by a final score of 16-10 on Sunday at TCF Bank Stadium. It wasn't the prettiest victory the Vikings will have all season, but the team did a great job of buckling down and getting the job done when it counted.
Quarterback Teddy Bridgewater and the Vikings got off to a hot start on the opening drive, completing a number of passes to sensational rookie wide receiver Stefon Diggs, who finished the day with seven catches for 129 receiving yards.
However, the drive came to an immediate halt when Chiefs safety Ron Parker picked off Bridgewater in the end zone. The Vikings signal-caller was caught trying to do too much, launching a pass after being flushed from the pocket.
Bridgewater responded well, however, leading Minnesota to 10 points on the next two offensive drives. Kicker Blair Walsh picked a great time to break out of his slump, drilling three field goals on the day, which ultimately proved to be the difference on the scoreboard.
Tight end Kyle Rudolph was the recipient of the Vikings' lone touchdown on the day, continuing to do his best work in the red zone. He scored on a four-yard pass from Bridgewater after running back Adrian Peterson had been stuffed multiple times on the goal line.
Peterson being stuffed in the backfield was a continuous theme on the day, as the superstar running back struggled to find any consistency and finished the day with 60 yards and a 2.3 yards-per-carry average on 26 attempts.
After having the offense completely shut down in the first half, Alex Smith and the Chiefs stormed back in the fourth quarter. Smith's biggest play of the day came on a pass to Albert Wilson, which the Kansas City wide receiver took 42 yards to the end zone to help bring the Chiefs within three points.
The Wilson touchdown came minutes after rookie Marcus Peters picked off Bridgewater, the Vikings quarterback's second interception of the day. It was an outstanding play by the first-year cornerback, jumping off of man coverage to make an outstanding play on the ball.
Minnesota responded with Walsh's third field goal of the day to put the Vikings up by six points. Danielle Hunter forced a fumble, which Brian Robison recovered, and cornerback Xavier Rhodes made a pair of plays in pass defense to nullify any chance of a Chiefs comeback, and the Vikings went on to finish the game in the victory formation.
Bridgewater finished 17-of-31 for 249 yards, a touchdown and the two interceptions. Wide receiver Jarius Wright added two catches and 69 receiving yards, including a 52-yard reception early in the game.
On defense, rookie Eric Kendricks led the team with 10 tackles, including a sack. Hunter—starting in place of Everson Griffen, who was out due to an illness—totaled four combined tackles and half a sack.
Position Grades for Vikings
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| Position | Grade |
| QB | C |
| RB | C |
| WR | A |
| TE | B |
| OL | B |
| DL | A |
| LB | B |
| DB | B |
| Special Teams | B |
| Coaching | B |
It certainly wasn't the best game the Vikings played all season, but multiple positional units played exceptional. Minnesota will look for a more complete team performance against the Detroit Lions next week.
Bridgewater wasn't always on his game against the Chiefs, missing a key 3rd-and-2 pass and throwing a pair of interceptions as well. With that said, he also found Diggs on a key 3rd-and-15 play, which proved to be a huge difference-maker in a game decided by a touchdown.
Peterson had his worst game of the season, by per-carry average standards, but this shouldn't be placed exclusively on his shoulders. The offensive line did a great job in pass protection—at least by the standards that have been set for this unit—but the group did not do well opening up lanes for Peterson, which is something Mike Zimmer echoed during his press conference, per Vikings.com.
The wide receiver group, led by Diggs and Wright, played well again on Sunday. Mike Wallace, whose knee injury appeared to slow him, didn't have his best game of the season, but other players stepped up in his place.
Rhett Ellison continues to quietly be a difference-maker for the Vikings and deserves just as much credit as Rudolph in the team's tight end group. Ellison came up with a big catch, which led to the Rudolph touchdown, and he was also in as a helper for rookie T.J. Clemmings on multiple occasions.
Minnesota's defense as a whole was unbelievable on Sunday. While the Chiefs were able to find some holes in the pass defense as the game dragged on, Kansas City finished with just 57 rushing yards—and it seemed like even less than that.
Rhodes came up with a number of huge plays late in the game, and Kendricks justified the Gerald Hodges trade with another strong game. Sharrif Floyd and Hunter also played impact roles for the Vikings on Sunday, consistently gaining pressure on Smith and forcing the Chiefs offense into bad situations.
The Vikings special teams were great on Sunday. Walsh was a perfect 3-of-3 on field goals, including a pair of key 40-plus-yard attempts in the second half. Jeff Locke also played relatively well, with exception to a punt he booted out of the end zone with a chance to pin Kansas City deep in its own territory.
Zimmer and Norv Turner did a nice job calling this game as a whole; with exception to a few weird offensive play calls. Turner's decision to try a deep ball on 3rd-and-short was questionable, but he could have come out a genius had Wallace been able to make the tough play.
Young Players Step Up
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It was going to be tough to beat the 2014 Vikings rookie class, but the 2015 group is giving that group a run for its money already.
Minnesota started four rookies on Sunday—Kendricks, Diggs, Hunter and Clemmings—while also receiving snaps from Trae Waynes and MyCole Pruitt. As a whole, the six rookies who played noticeable snaps on Sunday were outstanding.
Kendricks and Diggs, who were taken in the second and fifth round, respectively, continue to look like steals, playing huge roles on their respective sides of the ball. Without either player on Sunday, the Vikings could have easily lost this game.
Per Vikings.com, Bridgewater praised Diggs' performance:
"Each week it's going to be a different guy who steps up and makes plays for us, and this week Stefon did a great job for us when things were going slow. We're going to continue to expect some big things from him, that entire wide receiver unit. We know that this league waits for no one, with all the young guys stepping up and making big plays in this league, I'm happy to see Stefon contribute for the Vikings.
"
In addition, Hunter, who made his first start as a professional against the Chiefs, filled in nicely for an ailing Griffen. He was a part of a Vikings front four that put consistent pressure on Smith over the course of the afternoon, tallying his first portion of a sack of his young career.
"I think he stepped up in a tremendous way and a great way for a young guy, just going out there playing ball," Floyd said of Hunter, according to Vikings.com. "He played well."
Zimmer also briefly touched on the reason for utilizing Waynes in place of veteran Terence Newman.
"I just want to get him some plays," Zimmer said. "I talked to Terence during the week, and I told him that I wanted to get Trae in there some. Terence is 37, and he got hurt for a minute too, just get him some more playing time. He's earned it. He's done a good job."
It was a great day for the Vikings' young players, and the team will continue to rely on its young core to win games moving forward into the season.
"There's a lot of young guys making plays, you can't ask for nothing more," Diggs said during a postgame interview, per Vikings.com. "Kendricks on the other side, that's my guy, especially when he got that sack. You just get so excited seeing him do well."
Defense Is the Difference
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The Vikings offense had its moments on Sunday, but the defense was the true catalyst of Minnesota's Week 6 victory over the Chiefs.
"My thing was go hit the quarterback," Zimmer said during his postgame press conference. "They kind of had us on the ropes, and if I'm going to die, I'm going to die with my guns."
Zimmer certainly got his wish, as Minnesota combined for three quarterback hits on the day and a number of pressures on Smith. This constant pressure made it difficult for the Kansas City quarterback to get anything going offensively until late in the second half.
Minnesota's defense had a shutout going until the fourth quarter, when kicker Cairo Santos sent a 48-yard attempt through the uprights to get Kansas City on the board. Kansas City never even managed to score within the red zone, with its only touchdown on the day coming from 48 yards out on a Smith-to-Wilson catch.
In total, the Vikings defense totaled two sacks, three passes defended, three quarterback hits and a fumble recovery. While many of these statistics don't show up on the league-leader boards, these are numbers that make a difference—especially against an offense attempting to adapt to life without Jamaal Charles.
It was an outstanding defensive performance, something we have become accustomed to seeing from a Zimmer unit, and it will continue to be a reason why the Vikings win games moving forward.
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Zimmer: Had to Get My Pacemaker Readjusted After That
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Zimmer was his typical glowing self after a hard-fought victory on Sunday, coming out firing with the jokes even before being prompted with any questions from the local media:
"I had to get my pacemaker readjusted after that one, but we fought today. We did some really good things. Obviously we didn't do everything that we'd like to do. We have to take care of the football better, we got to run the football better than what we did. I thought we played really well defensively, other than that 3rd-and-9 that I wish I had back.
"
At 59 years old, it's hard to imagine Zimmer actually has a pacemaker, but he might need to invest in one if Minnesota is planning on continuing to win in this fashion.
When Wilson scored for the Chiefs late in the game to help push the score to 13-10 in favor of Minnesota, it appeared as if the Vikings might end up on the wrong end of some late-game heroics. Fortunately for Zimmer's health, Minnesota was able to buckle down, force a key turnover and then make a pair of late passes defended to keep the surging Kansas City offense at bay.
It is likely that Zimmer will have a number of different critiques to make after watching film of this game on Monday, but for the time being, the Minnesota head coach seems more than happy with winning this way.
In fact, it's a near certainty the Vikings coach doesn't care how his teams win, as he concluded his press conference with a quote that may ultimately define his legacy in Minnesota:
"Did we win?"
Peterson: Defense Had Our Back
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Peterson fielded a number of questions regarding his performance after the game on Sunday, most of which he deflected by saying something along the lines of "It will be fixed." However, the Minnesota running back was quick to give credit where credit is due, noting that the Vikings defense came up big for the team on Sunday.
"The defense had our back, they played extremely well today, and they got the job done for us," Peterson said during an interview, per Vikings.com. "That's why it's called a team; good team win today."
As noted previously, Peterson did not have his best game wearing a purple and gold uniform. He finished the contest with 26 carries and 60 yards rushing while adding a single catch for minus-three yards.
As a whole, his 27 touches for 57 yards amount to a 2.1 per-touch average, which is considerably lower than Peterson's averages throughout his career.
Peterson's thoughts surrounding the "ugly win" were reinforced by Diggs, who noted that he was far more concerned with the team winning than any sort of statistical output.
"You can't really complain about today," Diggs said. "My main focus was just getting the W, so I was really happy about that."
This seems to be a theme for the Vikings, and it is one of the reasons why this group of players is so special. It's an idea Zimmer has preached since Day 1; winning is more important than statistics.
Zimmer-coached teams likely will never yield any single-season, record-breaking performances from a single-player standpoint, as much of what is asked is predicated around performing as a collective unit. This can be seen by the way Zimmer utilizes players to hit the quarterback, or more specific to this season, by utilizing fullback Zach Line on the 1-yard line.
Minnesota's record now stands at 3-2 largely due to its defense, and the team will look to build a winning streak next weekend in Detroit.
Statistics courtesy of Pro-Football-Reference.com, unless otherwise noted.
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