There were moments in Sunday’s Vikings-Chiefs game when it felt like the Vikings should be running away with the game, but they went away as the second half unfolded and thoughts shifted to whether or not they were going to let the game get away altogether.
After a dreadful first half, the Chiefs offense was able to make some plays through the air and close the Minnesota lead to 13-10 in the fourth quarter. A 30-yard pass to Stefon Diggs set up Blair Walsh’s third field goal of the game, though, and Danielle Hunter forced a Charcandrick West fumble a bit later to help ensure the Vikings left as 16-10 winners in Week Five.
Hunter, starting in place of the sick Everson Griffen, and Diggs, who had seven catches for 129 yards overall, were joined by linebacker Eric Kendricks as rookies making key plays for the Vikings. Kendricks had a sack for the second straight week to help the Vikings defense keep the Vikings’ own offensive stumbles from costing them a win.
Teddy Bridgewater threw a pair of interceptions and didn’t have much success throwing the ball to anyone other than Diggs over the course of the afternoon. Some of that was thanks to drops by his receivers and there wasn’t much support from the running game either. Adrian Peterson ran 26 times for 60 yards and ended the game on the sideline getting his finger checked out by trainers.
They wound up being outgained 328-321, which obviously didn’t translate to the scoreboard but it was a day where the lack of production kept a game in doubt longer than it should have been. Teams with more weapons than the Chiefs will take advantage of that if the Vikings keep giving them chances.