Final score: Chiefs escape Minnesota with 27-20 victory over Vikings

The Kansas City Chiefs held on to defeat the Minnesota Vikings 27-20 on Sunday afternoon, extending their own record to 4-1 and dropping Minnesota to 1-4 on the season.

First quarter

Kansas City won the opening coin toss, deferring their decision to the second half. The Vikings started with the ball at their own 25-yard line, following a touchback.

On the Vikings’ first play, they found space after Chiefs’ linebacker Leo Chenal missed a tackle — but safety Justin Reid delivered a forceful hit, popping the ball free. Safety Bryan Cook recovered, giving Kansas City the ball in Minnesota territory.

The Chiefs’ initial possession got through an early third down with a strong run by running back Isiah Pacheco. Later on in the red zone, he did it again — but this time on a direct snap. It set up his touchdown from a yard out, giving the Chiefs an early 7-0 lead.

Minnesota looked to respond by attacking through the air, moving the chains with completions to tight end T.J. Hockenson and wide receiver Justin Jefferson. They ran into third and five, and cornerback L’Jarius Sneed denied an attempt. The Vikings went for it however, and converted with a quick throw to wide receiver Jordan Addison, who beat cornerback Joshua Williams on the route and after the catch.

From the Chiefs’ 25-yard line, Leo Chenal shot off the edge and earned a sack on first down. Minnesota got it back to a manageable third down, but missed a throw and failed to convert. The Vikings’ ensuing field goal was successful, tightening Kansas City’s initial lead to 7-3.

A sack seemed to doom the Chiefs’ latest drive, but a fan favorite dug them out of the hole: wide receiver Justyn Ross skied for a 20-yard completion down the sideline, needing 17 yards to move the chains. That got the offense into Vikings’ territory as the first quarter ended.

Second quarter

On third and four, running back Jerick McKinnon found room on a screen to gain 15 yards. Two plays later, the offense faced another third down — but there was no room anywhere for a completion. Kansas City settled for a successful field goal, pushing their advantage on the scoreboard to 10-3.

Minnesota found a big gain with a completion to Justin Jefferson, but 15 yards got added on when Justin Reid was called for unnecessary roughness. The Vikings moved the chains with help from a defensive penalty a few plays later, when L’Jarius Sneed was called for illegal contact.

At the Chiefs’ 38-yard line, the Vikings were forced into a third down, but the third penalty of the drive on Kansas City was defensive pass interference on cornerback Trent McDuffie. That pushed the Vikings to the 25-yard line, until Sneed was called for illegal hands to the face. Then Minnesota was called for holding, setting them up back outside the red zone.

The Vikings worked themselves back into needing four yards to convert third down, but a missed throw led to a field goal attempt. Minnesota made it, squeezing the score to 10-6.

The Chiefs’ offense went three and out in their attempt to answer, with pressure forcing a missed throw — then good coverage nearly intercepting Mahomes’ pass on third down.

Defensive tackle Chris Jones earned a sack on the second play of the Vikings’ possession, pushing them back and eventually forcing a punting situation. However, Minnesota faked it on fourth down with two yards to go, and converted with a great design.

Three plays later, the Vikings had a fresh set of downs at the Chiefs’ 23-yard line. Safety Mike Edwards flew into the backfield on a second-down run to make a tackle for loss, setting up third and nine at the two-minute warning.

Out of the break, wide receiver Jordan Addison was wide open on third down — advancing to the six-yard line. Two plays later, Addison was looked to again, this time catching a touchdown and giving the Vikings a 13-10 lead with 90 seconds left in the first half.

Looking to add a score before halftime, the Chiefs advanced into Vikings’ territory with two first-down completions. Running out of time, the offense eventually settled for a 40-yard field goal. That made the score 13-13 at the end of the first half.

Third quarter

After starting the second half with a sack, Mahomes rebounded two plays later on third down — giving wide receiver Justin Watson a jump-ball opportunity and letting him come down with the 33-yard completion. Then, Mahomes hooked up with Rashee Rice and Justyn Ross on back-to-back plays to near the red zone.

After a short conversion by Pacheco, Mahomes connected with wide receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling to advance to Minnesota’s eight-yard line. Two incompletions later, it was third and goal — and Mahomes went to Rice on a quick slant out of the slot. The rookie secured the catch as he crossed the goal line, giving Kansas City a 20-13 lead.

The Chiefs’ pass defense tightened up to open the second half, with pass breakups by linebacker Drue Tranquill and safety Mike Edwards leading to a quick punt by the Vikings.

Quickly facing a third down, Kansas City’s offense kept the drive alive with a tough, contested completion to Travis Kelce 14 yards down the field. Later on, an eight-yard gain by Kelce set up the Chiefs in third and short. After failing to convert, a fourth-down pass attempt fell incomplete — but the Chiefs were bailed out by defensive pass interference.

Kansas City was backed up from Minnesota’s 17-yard line after Kelce was penalized for an illegal crackback block. Eventually, the offense worked into third down, needing eight yards; the unit converted when a scrambling Mahomes found Kelce streaking across the middle. Inside the five-yard line, Mahomes found Kelce wide open on second down, giving the Chiefs a 27-13 lead with a few minutes to go in the third quarter.

The Vikings got their pass-game going, finding space for two big completions and advancing into Kansas City territory as the fourth quarter began.

Fourth quarter

Minnesota’s offense continued finding room, working into the red zone on the arm of Kirk Cousins. After converting fourth down with a completion to Jordan Addison, running back Alexander Mattison caught a screen pass and punched it in. The Chiefs’ lead was cut to 27-20.

Looking to extend their advantage, Kansas City approached midfield — but were forced into fourth and short. A stuffed run on third down led to the quick punt.

The Chiefs’ defense could not keep the Vikings backed up on their side of the field, allowing a 13-yard gain to convert third down. After another fresh set of downs, Minnesota crossed midfield and neared the red zone with a 27-yard completion. The Kansas City defense worked to a third down, and forced fourth down when a blitzing Justin Reid nailed Cousins as he threw.

On fourth and 12, defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo sent the house on a blitz — and it forced an incompletion. The Chiefs took over with a seven-point lead, under five minutes remaining.

The Chiefs looked to ice the game, earning a quick first down with Rashee Rice. After two more runs by Pacheco, the Chiefs faced third down as the two-minute warning hit. Looking to gain six yards and seal the game, Mahomes dumped off to running back Jerick McKinnon, who was tackled short of the sticks. The Vikings got the ball back, with just over a minute left and no timeouts.

After L’Jarius Sneed broke up a pass on third down, Minnesota converted fourth down and had 22 seconds to go from their own 31-yard line. A pass downfield got them past the 50-yard line with five seconds left. The attempt at a Hail Mary ended in a sack by defensive end Mike Danna, and the Chiefs secured their fourth-straight win with a 27-20 finish.

Injuries

Tight end Travis Kelce went down with a non-contact injury late in the second quarter. He had help walking to the locker room shortly after. When he came out after halftime with his right foot wrapped up, the team announced he was questionable to return.

Linebacker Drue Tranquill was noticeably limping in the third quarter. Later, he was reportedly being checked on by trainers on the sideline. He never left the game.

Special Teams

Kicker Harrison Butker made all three of his extra-point attempts. He also made a 38-yard field goal in the second quarter, then a 40-yard kick right before halftime.

Punter Tommy Townsend booted his first punt 50 yards in the second quarter — but cornerback Nic Jones was flagged for catch interference to add 15 yards onto the result.

Townsend’s second punt came in the fourth quarter, landing in the end zone for a touchback.

Punt returner Montrell Washington saw his first and only punt return of the game in the third quarter, returning it eight yards.

Statistics