Vikings-Chiefs

Well, that game didn't end well. The Minnesota Vikings simply made too many mistakes to put away the Kansas City Chiefs. Harrison Butker hit a 44-yard field goal as time expired and the Vikings head back to Minnesota after the 26-23 loss at Arrowhead.

Vikings defensive end got a finger on Butker's game-winning kick. It wasn't enough. It was that sort of game for the Vikings.

It's been said that good teams find a way to win games even when they don't play well. I guess that the Vikings are almost there. They didn't play well but they still had opportunities to put the Chiefs away. The offense wasted too many possessions, the defense allowed too many big plays, and there was a missed an extra point and a shanked put that set the Chiefs up nicely for their final possession.

Offensive failings:
4 three-and-outs in the first half
2 three-and-outs in the second half

The worst thing about those two second half three-and-outs was that they were the last two possessions of the game. Either needed to be the game-winning drive but the offense kept the ball for less than two minutes and gained a combined -7 yards. -7 yards. -7 yards. -7 yards on their final two possessions of the game.

Kirk Cousins had accuracy issues. If he'd had the accuracy in this game that he'd had in the previous four games the Vikings might've won by three touchdowns. The most glaring miss was to a wide open Sefon Diggs that likely would've been a 57-yard touchdown. The Vikings ended up kicking a field goal on that possession but that's a loss of four points. That's big in a game decided by three points.

For the game, Cousins posted the following stat line:
19/38, 220 yards, 3 touchdowns, 94.2 rating.

Cousins typically completes passes at a 70% clip. This game was an outlier. He wasn't at his best but he didn't play poorly. Despite wrestling with his accuracy throughout the game he didn't throw any interceptions. That's a good thing. What wasn't a good thing was his third down slide about two yards short of the chains in the first half. He had plenty of room to gain the yards that he needed but obviously lost track of where he was on the field. It wasn't a pretty game for Cousins but it was a gritty game. It was a game that he could've won if he'd been just slightly closer to his usual accuracy. Hell, it was a game that he could've won if it weren't for some other failings....

Defensive failings:
The Vikings defense simply gave up too many big plays.

The biggest came early in the second half when it felt like the Vikings were on the verge of taking control of the game. The special teams had recovered a fumble on the second half kickoff. The offense had scored a touchdown to take a 16-10 lead. The Chiefs were pinned inside their own five-yard line. Everything was right there for the Vikings to take control. What happened? Chiefs running back Damien Williams burst through a giant hole and wide-open field for a 91-yard touchdown. Just like that, the game gets flipped and the Chiefs are smiling with momentum and a 17-16 lead.

Then there's big-play-waiting-to-happen Tyreek Hill. The Vikings allowed him to catch three passes of at least 30 yards. The first was a 40-yard touchdown. The second was a 30-yarder that set up a field goal. The third was a 41-yarder that set up the field goal that tied the game at 23-23. It was only on the third big play that there was a Vikings defender within the same zip code of Hill. Those three big plays to Hill resulted in or led to half of the points that the Chiefs scored.

The four big plays represented 202 of the 377 yards that the Chiefs offense gained.

Special teams failings:
Missed extra point
Late shanked punt:
With 1:47 to play, the Vikings needed a decent Britton Colquitt punt to put the Chiefs in a position in which they had to, at least, do a little work to get into position to kick a potential game-winning field goal. What happened? Colguitt shanks it out-of-bounds for 27 yards. The Chiefs get a gift starting position at the Vikings 45-yard line. Earlier in the fourth quarter big-play-waiting-to-happen Tyreek Hill was inserted as the Chiefs punt returner. It looked like the Vikings and Colquitt became way too concerned about the menace that was at the end of the punt. Credit the Chiefs for putting Hill back there. It impacted the game.

This shows the odd nature of this game for the Vikings

Laquon Treadwell: 3 catches, 58 yards

Treadwell was targeted five times and was the team's leading receiver. Treadwell! Treadwell was the team's leading receiver. Treadwell!

Actually, Treadwell making an impact could be a good thing. The Vikings started the season as a two-receiver team. Stefon Diggs and Adam Thielen. Rookie Olabisi Johnson has emerged as a receiving threat (he had a touchdown in this game). Tight ends Kyle Rudolph and Irv Smith Jr. have been making an increasing impact in recent weeks. In a game in which Thielen left early with hamstring concerns and Diggs did little, the Vikings got some production from receivers not named Diggs and Thielen. That's a good thing but the Vikings offense is one of the most explosive in the league when Diggs and Thielen are making an impact. They need those two. Cousins needs those two.

Without coaches' film it's tough to tell what their secondary was doing but it looked like the Chiefs' defense emphasized bottling up Dalvin Cook and taking away Diggs. The latter became much easier after Thielen left the game. The Chiefs routinely had eight, or more, players near the line of scrimmage and Cook was hit within a yard of that line on 15 of his 21 carries. On four occasions he was hit before he could get to the line of scrimmage. It was actually remarkable that he was still able to grind out 71 yards. That sort of emphasis on the Vikings' running game should've opened things up in the passing game. Diggs had one catch for four yards. Treadwell was the only receiver with more than one catch. I'm guessing that the Chiefs focused coverage on Diggs and Cousins' game-long wrestle with accuracy took care of the rest. The offensive line, especially the middle of the offensive line, didn't do Cousins any favors. He often had Chiefs in front of him but it wasn't enough to chop 20% off his completion rate. The Vikings won every game in October with a very balanced, big play offense. Cousins played comfortable and confident last month. He didn't look either yesterday.

This loss to the Chiefs isn't as concerning as the two losses earlier in the season (against the Packers and Bears). The Vikings played a rough game against the Chiefs in all phases. Despite playing a rough game in all phases they really could've won this game. Maybe they win this game if the ball hadn't bounced (or not bounced) so fortuitously for the Chiefs on their last two possessions of the game. On each occasion, the Vikings defense sacked Matt Moore and forced a fumble. On the first, the ball just hit the ground and didn't bounce. It stayed where it landed and Moore simply fell on it. On the second, the ball bounced right into the hands of Damien Williams. Each possession ended in a Chiefs field goal. There's the game. If the ball had bounced in a manner that went the Vikings way on either occasion, the game ends so much differently. But that's the way the ball bounces. So, the Vikings played a rough game. They lost it but they had plenty of opportunities to win it. Good teams do that. Better teams find ways to win even when they play. The Vikings have to get there.

Nest week, the Vikings travel to Dallas. They can't let any more games slip from their grasp.