Embed from Getty Images
This Sunday, the Kansas City Chiefs will travel to Minnesota to take on a Vikings team that is coming off of their first win of the season. Meanwhile, Kansas City is looking for their fourth consecutive victory after losing to one of the Vikings’ rivals on opening night.
There are a handful of key headlines and recent trends to monitor entering this contest. Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes will have a chance to check another goal off of his list. Can he bounce back after an uncharacteristically poor showing last week? On the flip side, can Minnesota turn their luck around in one specific area? Based on how the Chiefs defense is playing, it will be fascinating to see if the Vikings can protect themselves in a certain statistic.
What are the most intriguing headlines or trends to monitor entering Chiefs vs Vikings? Let’s kick it off.
One Last Box To Check For Patrick Mahomes
There are many reasons as to why Patrick Mahomes has enjoyed a brilliant start to his career. Some argue that wins are not a quarterback stat. Yet, we seem to focus on a passer’s record more often now than ever before. When it comes to winning, there is one last box for Mahomes to check, so to speak.
He has beaten 30 NFL teams in his career. The only team that he has yet to beat is this week’s opponent, the Minnesota Vikings. In fact, Mahomes has not faced Minnesota so far. He missed the last meeting in the head-to-head series with his knee injury in 2019. Matt Moore led the Chiefs to a key victory over the Vikings before Mahomes returned and eventually won Super Bowl LIV.
With how he performed last game, Mahomes is more worried about getting the offense on track and protecting the football. All told, it would still feel great to get this victory over the final team that he is yet to defeat. The Chiefs hope he can have a convincing day while leading Kansas City to victory.
Vikings Have Been Giving The Ball Away Like Free Candy
Embed from Getty Images
Minnesota enters Week 5 tied with the New York Giants for the second-worst turnover differential so far this season (-8). Only the Las Vegas Raiders (-9) are worse in turnover differential currently. Of the Vikings’ 11 total giveaways, they have four interceptions thrown and seven fumbles lost. Beyond that, Minnesota has had multiple giveaways in all four games to begin the year.
Kansas City has tallied five takeaways on defense so far. Four of those are fumbles, as the entire Chiefs defense has been aggressively attacking the football in crucial moments. The Vikings got so many bounces to go their way last season. Will this year’s tough turnover luck continue on Sunday? Or, can Minnesota play much cleaner against the Chiefs defense?
Flores Loves To Bring The Heat
Earlier this week, we wrote about the matchup of the Vikings defense vs Mahomes. How aggressive will Minnesota attack him? Overall, Mahomes has historically been strong against the blitz. To say that Brian Flores loves to bring the heat often, it may still be an understatement.
- Ep. 197: Fields to Pittsburgh, Still Available Free Agentsby Full Press Coverage on March 18, 2024 at 8:00 pm
The blitz rate (amount of plays with more than four pass rushers) of Minnesota sat at an astonishing amount of 64 percent entering last week. In one game this year, Week 3 vs the Los Angeles Chargers, the Vikings amazingly blitzed Justin Herbert on 81.6 (!!) percent of his dropbacks. That was on 40 of Herbert’s 49 passing attempts. No team has blitzed more this season than the Vikings. When it comes to bringing extra pass rushers, Minnesota has done it at a 57 percent clip through the first four games.
Besides Mahomes usually having success against the blitz, the Chiefs offensive line will be interesting to watch. Offensive tackles Donovan Smith and Jawaan Taylor have had penalty trouble. Plus, the Kansas City interior offensive line trio is looking for a rebound after last week. How will they respond to the Vikings and their pressure packages?
Chiefs Wide Receivers Still Look To Find Footing
It is no secret that the Chiefs wide receivers have been inconsistent. Marquez Valdes-Scantling and Justin Watson have not hauled in many passes. Though, they have largely been limited to deep catches down the field. Rashee Rice has shown real promise in some moments. Drops and failing to win against man coverage have still hindered him at times, however. Finally, Skyy Moore is still looking to breakout like many anticipated.
Minnesota has been relying on a mostly young secondary. As far as veterans go, safety Harrison Smith and cornerback Byron Murphy are looking to lead the defensive backs by example. Smith is coming off of a dominant performance against the Carolina Panthers. Can this Vikings secondary display added growth against an equally youthful Chiefs wide receiver group?
Which Minnesota Running Game Shows Up?
After the release of Dalvin Cook, the Vikings have been slow to develop in the running game, for the most part. They have attempted the fewest runs so far. Currently, Minnesota ranks 28th in rushing yards and has yet to record a rushing touchdown. If you go game-by-game, the Vikings have been all-or-nothing, in terms of yards per carry.
Minnesota finished with 2.4 yards per carry against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the season opener. That number barely crawled above three yards per carry the following game. Thankfully for the Vikings, that number increased tremendously above five yards per carry in each of the last two weeks.
Kansas City has been solid to start the year on defense. There is always a bit of hesitancy to believe in a consistently strong Chiefs run defense, however. That is true, at least in recent years. Will the Vikings be able to find a spark in the running game at all?
Be on the lookout for more FPC Chiefs articles and analysis throughout the coming days. For more great sports and NFL content, stay tuned to Full Press Coverage.
– Braden Holecek is the Kansas City Chiefs managing editor for Full Press Coverage. He covers the NFL. Like and follow on Follow @ebearcat9//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js Follow @FPC_Chiefs//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js and Facebook.