The Minnesota Vikings will try to climb out of their 1-3 start when they host the Kansas City Chiefs at U.S. Bank Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
The Vikings will be trying some of their historic trends with Jim Nantz in the booth and a 3:25 p.m. kickoff but they’ll also be dealing with a tough opponent as Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce will make life difficult for Kevin O’Connell and his staff.
While you can’t count on Taylor Swift to be in attendance, here are five things you can count on when the Vikings battle the Chiefs.
1. The Vikings’ commitment to the running game
With as much focus that has been given to the running game this season, you may think that Mike Zimmer has somehow possessed Kevin O’Connell. But the ground game may have hit its stride in Carolina and could be the key to keeping the Chiefs offense off the field.
The Vikings ran for a season-high 135 rushing yards in their win over Carolina last week and it was paced by a successful committee in the backfield. Alexander Mattison ran for 93 yards on 17 carries while Cam Akers added five carries for 40 yards as a change of pace.
O’Connell mentioned after the game that utilizing both backs with Ty Chandler mixed in will be the game plan moving forward. With the Chiefs allowing 4.4 yards per rushing attempt this season, the Vikings should be able to establish themselves on the ground and control the time of possession.
2. Marcus Davenport’s encore
Marcus Davenport made his season debut after missing a majority of the first three games with an ankle injury and the edge rusher jumped off the milk carton with a sack and three pressures in the win over the Panthers.
O’Connell said after Sunday’s win that the plan was to limit Davenport’s snaps but the 27-year-old looked so good, the Vikings kept him on the field and in the backfield on a majority of his 47 snaps.
There’s a good chance that Davenport could have an encore in store for the Chiefs as he goes up against Donovan Smith. The free-agent acquisition entered Week 3 seventh among tackles and ninth among all offensive linemen with 14 pressures allowed this season and could be the weakest link in a Chiefs offensive line that includes Joe Thuney and Creed Humphrey.
3. Big plays for the Chiefs
The Vikings would preferably like to shut down the Chiefs offense on Sunday but O’Connell admitted that big plays will be inevitable going up against Patrick Mahomes.
“You could do [a call] exactly how you coach it…and they’re still going to make some plays against us,” O’Connell said during Wednesday’s press conference. “That’s where it’s the next-snap mentality. How many times can we just have all 11 guys doing their job in the call and try to win some of those all the way to the whistle? Because that’s what you got to do.”
Defensive coordinator Brian Flores also said that a “next play” mentality will be needed for the Vikings to defeat the Chiefs.
“When you’re playing a great player, an MVP-caliber player, that player is probably going to make some plays,” Flores said. “That’s just kind of how it goes, you understand that. Often times…you’ve got to tip your cap and that’s alright. We just [have] got to move on to the next play. That’s really what it’s about.”
The Vikings will do their best to limit those big plays but moving onto the next play will be key for the victory.
4. The Vikings offensive line continuing to gel
The Vikings signed Dalton Risner two weeks ago but he hasn’t been able to get on the field due to the performance of the offensive line.
The Vikings were great in the trenches against the Panthers, allowing Kirk Cousins to get pressured on just over 23 percent of his snaps last week. Although the performance came with a small sample size, it appears that O’Connell has found a starting five and is willing to use Risner as depth until he’s proven otherwise.
The Chiefs will present some challenges to this group with Chris Jones on the interior but with Garrett Bradbury expected to return from a back injury, it could be another strong day in the trenches.
5. A Chiefs victory
Looking strictly at the Vikings record, it may seem like the season could be over before it even began. But if Minnesota can defeat the Chiefs, they could be on their way back to contention.
A win over Kansas City would put the Vikings at 2-3 with a trip to Chicago next weekend. A win over the Bears would put the Vikings at 3-3 going into a Monday Night Football matchup with the San Francisco 49ers.
A .500 record doesn’t sound as spectacular as the 8-1 start the Vikings had a year ago but there’s beauty in the eye of the beholder. Would you rather be 4-2 with losses to the Chiefs in the Philadelphia Eagles? Or would you rather be 3-3 with a win over the Chiefs and two games that you could have won against Tampa Bay and the Los Angeles Chargers?
Even with that scenario, the Chiefs might be too much to handle. A strong contingent of fans driving up I-35 could put more “Red” than a Swift lyric inside U.S. Bank Stadium and with Cousins already blaming his own fans for crowd noise during the Vikings’ last home game, it could be an unexpectedly hostile environment.
Prediction: Chiefs 31, Vikings 13
