Click here to see all recaps on a single page
| Other Week 3 Game Recaps | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ARI at BAL | BUF at NE | CAR at ATL | CIN at SEA | CLE at OAK | DAL at CHI | DET at PHI | IND at HOU |
| JAX at DEN | MIA at NYJ | MIN at KC | NYG at WAS | SD at GB | SF at PIT | STL at TB | TEN at NO |
Week 3 Game Recap: Minnesota Vikings 10, Kansas City Chiefs 13
What you need to know
| Minnesota Vikings |
Kelly Holcomb got the start at quarterback for the Vikings in place of the injured Tarvaris Jackson. He played as well as one would expect from a player who joined his team in the preseason, and had only practiced with the first string for the past week. He played well in spots, but was frequently off target with his receivers, primarily down field.
Adrian Peterson was again the primary focus of the offensive attack. Out of 63 offensive plays, Peterson had 28 touches. He carried the ball early and often and only came out when needing a breather.
None of the Vikings receivers had a huge day, but Visanthe Shiancoe seemed to be a guy Holcomb leaned on during the game. Shiancoe led the team with 51 yards, and Bobby Wade led the team with four receptions.
| Kansas City Chiefs |
The Chiefs were intent on getting the ground game going and stayed with it the entire game. Larry Johnson had trouble finding running room for most of the afternoon, finishing with just 42 yards on the ground and losing five on his only reception.
Damon Huard played efficiently, and improved as the game went on. The Chiefs had little offense in the first half, but Huard finally started to connect on some of his deep passes in the second half and finished with 206 yards and a touchdown.
Tony Gonzalez and Dwayne Bowe carried the receiving corp. Gonzalez lead the team in both receptions (seven) and yards (96). Bowe had the teams only touchdown and added 71 yards on his five receptions.
What you ought to know
| QB Kelly Holcomb, Pass: 14 - 28 - 165 - 0 TD / 0 INT |
Holcomb got the start in place of the injured Tarvaris Jackson. Coach Childress did not announce the starter until the day of the game, but Holcomb did practice all week with the first unit. His timing was off with his receivers on deeper throws, but he did look comfortable throwing underneath. He did go through stretches where he was indecisive, holding the ball too long. He was sacked five times largely as a direct result of his difficulty getting through his progression. He finished with 165 yards, and no touchdowns. He did miss Robert Ferguson who was wide open in the end zone, but overthrew him.
| RB Adrian Peterson, Rush: 25 - 102 - 1, Rec: 3 - 48 - 0 (3 targets) |
Peterson was the focus of the Vikings attack throughout the day. He received a steady load of carries starting with the first series of the game. The Vikings six play drive, four of which were Peterson runs, was their only touchdown drive of the game. Peterson capped it off with a fantastic individual play, making a move on Ty Law to get to the outside and speed into the end zone. Peterson had his speed, power, and elusiveness on display at various times of the game. Peterson took one short pass from Holcomb and sped up the sideline for 35 yards, finishing the run by bowling over a defensive back. The Chiefs did bottle Peterson up on a number of players, but Peterson often made something out of nothing. Peterson did also make some rookie mistakes, occasionally looking impatient waiting for his blockers, and instead ran past or into them instead of waiting for the hole to develop. One of the biggest notes on Peterson though was his presence on passing downs. Multiple times, he bought time for Holcomb by picking up a blitzing defender, which would bold well for seeing more time on the field in these situations.
| RB Mewelde Moore, Pass: 0 - 1 - 0 - 0 TD / 0 INT, Rush: 4 - 21 - 0, Rec: 2 - 10 - 0 (3 targets) |
Moore served primarily as breather back for Adrian Peterson. He did play the entire series for a couple of possessions, but was in mainly after multiple Peterson carries and some obvious passing downs. Moore also had a pass attempt, hitting a wide open Visanthe Shiancoe in the end zone, but was incomplete. The play was reviewed, and appeared to actually be a completion, but the only replay angle was not conclusive.
| WR Bobby Wade, Rec: 4 - 35 - 0 (7 targets) |
Wade was a frequent target for Holcomb, but their timing did not seem to be in tune. His first target was a short pass and Wade made the first defender miss with a nice spin move and turned it up field for a first down. Wade also had another five yard reception called back by an illegal shift penalty.
| WR Sidney Rice, Rec: 2 - 21 - 0 (5 targets) |
Rice was targeted frequently early in the game, and appeared to be who Holcomb looked for on third downs. His first catch was on a third and eight, going for ten yards at the sideline. Rice was targeted on the next Vikings third down, running a comeback route, but Holcomb overthrew him. In the second quarter, Holcomb threw his way again on a third and eight, but misfired again. Rice's next target was again on a third down in the third quarter, converting for 11 yards. His final target was in the fourth quarter, on a third and seven, but was unable to make the play.
| TE Visanthe Shiancoe, Rec: 3 - 51 - 0 (4 targets) |
Shiancoe had a nice game, catching three of his four targets. His biggest target was a drop in the end zone however. Mewelde Moore hit a wide open Shiancoe in the end zone, and the ruling was an incompletion. Minnesota challenged the call, and it appeared to be a reception, but the only review angle was not conclusive so the ruling was upheld. His first catch was on a first and ten on a deep route making a nice reaching catch and run for 25 yards. His next target was the drop in the end zone. In the second quarter, he made a short catch over the middle for five yards. His last target was not again until the fourth quarter on a second and five, running another deep route and making a nice reaching catch for 21 yards.
| PK Ryan Longwell 1 - 1 FG, 1 - 1 XP, 4 points |
Longwell converted on his only field goal attempt of 22 yards.
| MIN Rush Defense |
The Minnesota Vikings rush defense was stout all day, rarely giving Larry Johnson any room to run. Pat Williams and Kevin Williams anchored the rush defense, stuffing almost everything up the middle.
| MIN Pass Defense |
The Vikings pass defense played adequately. The did give up several big plays, especially in the second half, including Dwayne Bowe beating Cedric Griffin for the touchdown.
| QB Damon Huard, Pass: 20 - 29 - 206 - 1 TD / 0 INT, Rush: 2 - 4 - 0 |
Huard started slowly, but played much better in the second half. He did take care of the ball, not turning the ball over. He missed a few deep passes badly to Kris Wilson up the sideline, leading Wilson out of bounds. In the second half, those deep passes were more often to Tony Gonzalez, and he started having more success. Huard also just missed a touchdown to Gonzalez in the end zone with the ball just out of reach, and Gonzalez looking for a pass interference call. His lone touchdown pass was a jump ball thrown to Dwayne Bowe in the corner of the end zone which Bowe was able to outreach the defensive back for.
| RB Larry Johnson, Rush: 24 - 42 - 0, Rec: 1 - -5 - 0 (2 targets) |
Johnson had little luck finding any room to run all day. The Chiefs did stay with the running game for the entire afternoon, which was the only reason Johnson was able to manage the 42 yards on the ground he did. His longest run of the day, 28 yards, was called back on a holding penalty. His longest run that counted was nine yards. There was not much room for him to work with all day, but he did show power on several plays, dragging tacklers and making positive yards.
| WR Dwayne Bowe, Rec: 5 - 71 - 1 (7 targets) |
Bowe had a nice game, with a touchdown catch and being targeted frequently in the second half. He was not targeted at all until the Chiefs' first possession after halftime. His first reception was on a second and 13, Huard found him wide open for 17 yards. Later on the same drive, Huard was hit as he threw to Bowe up the sideline, but the ball fluttered and two defenders were able to get to the ball at the same time as Bowe. Two possessions later, Bowe made a nice reception, jumping back for the ball for a 15 yard reception. Later on the same drive, Huard threw deep to Bowe, who had to jump and reach for the ball. Bowe had the ball go through his hands, and he probably should have caught it. Huard came back to Bowe on the next play for 17 yards. After another reception on the same drive, Huard threw Bowe a jump ball in the endzone, and Bowe pulled the ball away from the defender for a touchdown.
| WR Samie Parker, Rec: 1 - 22 - 0 (2 targets) |
Parker was the only wide receiver other than Bowe to make a reception. His lone reception was a short pass that Parker was able to make a move, and use his speed to turn it into a 22 yard gain. His only other target was a deep route Huard missed him on.
| TE Tony Gonzalez, Rec: 7 - 96 - 0 (9 targets) |
Gonzalez led the Chiefs with nine receptions. His first target was on their first play, deep down the middle but was overthrown by Huard. He did not get another look until late in the second quarter, short over the middle and Gonzalez was able to turn it into a 14 yard reception. Later on the same drive, Huard threw deep to Gonzalez in the end zone. Gonzalez had to dive for it and it went just off his fingertips. He got up looking for a pass interference call as he was falling down as the ball arrived, but he did not get the call. He was targeted more frequently in the second half, with six more targets he turned into 6 receptions and 82 yards.
| PK Dave Rayner 2 - 2 FG, 1 - 1 XP, 7 points |
Rayner converted on field goals of 39 and 49 yard with no misses.
| KC Rush Defense |
The Kansas City rush defense played well, but Adrian Peterson was able to get too many big plays. They bottled him up frequently, and had several tackles for losses, but Peterson was able to get the first 100 yard game the Chiefs gave up at home in several years.
| KC Pass Defense |
The Kansas City pass defense was able to bottle up the Vikings pass game, giving up an average of just 1.4 yards per passing play. Holcomb suffered several coverage sacks. Jared Allen, fresh off his two game suspension, lead the defensive pressure and finishing with two sacks.
