Mistake-prone Vikings lose to Chiefs; Jefferson injured
The Minnesota Vikings defeated 27-20 at home against the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday in Minneapolis; nobody knows if Taylor Swift was present. Minnesota dropped to 1-4 on the season as a result of a touchdown by Travis Kelce, a turnover by the Vikings on their opening offensive play, an injury to Justin Jefferson, and a crucial drop by Alexander Mattison late in the fourth quarter.
Despite all the drama, the Vikings trailed 27-20 and got the football back with 1:07 remaining and no timeouts. From the 38-yard line with 5 seconds to play, Cousins took a sack and that was all she wrote.
It was a nightmare start for Minnesota as the first play of the game was a fumble by tight end Josh Oliver. He rumbled 15 yards before the Chiefs put a helmet on the ball and knocked it loose for Minnesota’s 12th turnover of the season and the seventh in the first quarter.
The Chiefs turned the turnover in seven points after a nine-play, 45-yard drive was capped off by Isaiah Pacheco’s one-yard touchdown run. The Vikings responded with a couple of Greg Joseph field goals and the Chiefs mixed in a Harrison Butker field for a 10-6 lead midway through the second quarter.
Kansas City then dealt with injury concerns on back-to-back drives late in the second quarter. Mahomes twisted his left ankle and stayed in the game and then Kelce appeared injured his right ankle near the end of the first half and he went to the locker room for X-rays. He did return to the game.
Facing 4th-and-2 at the KC 48-yard line, the Vikings ran the punt team onto the field amid a chorus of boos from the crowd only to run a fake punt to Ty Chandler, who scooted to the right side for a first down. The aggressive decision was rewarded eight plays later when Cousins hit Jordan Addison in the back of the end zone for the rookie’s third touchdown of the season and a 13-10 lead.