Vikings Vs. Chiefs: Keeping An Eye On The Tight End

The loss of S Eric Berry in Week 1 resulted in the Kansas City Chiefs giving up big chunks of yards down the middle of the field, particularly to the tight end. The Chiefs stepped it up in Week 2 and again in Week 3 when San Diego Chargers TE Antonio Gates was out (even though TE Randy McMichael had a decent day) but there's still some concern regarding the Chiefs secondary with Berry out.

The Chiefs will get another test this week with Minnesota Vikings TE Kyle Rudolph. He only has four receptions this year but SB Nation's Vikings blog, Daily Norseman, tells us he's a guy to keep an eye on this Sunday.

While most of the offense outside of Adrian Peterson has sputtered through the first three games, rookie TE Kyle Rudolph has shown flashes of excitement when he's been thrown to. He only has four catches so far in 2011, but it's tough to rack up big stats when it looks like the turf is Donovan McNabb's favorite receiver. Rudolph made a couple spectacular grabs against Detroit on (surprise) poorly thrown McNabb passes and it looks like he's going to be more and more involved in the offense going forward. I wouldn't be surprised to see Rudolph be a big target in the red zone this week with his combination of size and skill.

Add TE Visanthe Shiancoe to that list, too. The Vikings are working on McNabb's mechanics so there are obviously some issues there but the Vikings have a couple of weapons, including WR Percy Harvin. With S Jon McGraw beat up, it'll be interesting to see how Romeo Crennel decides to attack the Vikings.