Five things that stood out about the Chiefs’ road win over the Minnesota Vikings
All eyes are still on Travis Kelce.
Oh, and Patrick Mahomes.
And the penalty flag that wasn’t.
Mahomes bounced back from one of his worst games to lead the Chiefs to a 27-20 win against the Minnesota Vikings at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis.
The Chiefs improved to 4-1.
Here are five observations from immediately after the game.
1. Travis Kelce’s world
For one week — or maybe just one day — the Kelce storyline is strictly about football.
Turns out, he’s still pretty good at that.
Kelce shook off an ankle injury — or, rather, tried to walk it off for about 20 minutes on the Chiefs’ sideline — only to return and make a ridiculous third-down catch.
And then another third-down grab.
The first catch required him to hold onto the ball while being slammed to the turf — on his first target after returning from the injury, no less. The second required him to find an opening for a scrambling Patrick Mahomes. The third was about as routine as it gets.
But we’ve seen all that before.
The real Kelce headline Sunday: The guy is just a freaking gamer, man.
2. The deep shot
Defenses don’t exactly leave much wiggle room for Mahomes to throw the deep ball, but he hasn’t been taking advantage of the few opportunities he does get.
Through four weeks, he rated as the league’s second-worst quarterback on passes that travel 20-plus yards in the air. And he whiffed on his first one Sunday too — a throw to Justin Watson that fell well short.
But then he got one.
A big one.
With the pass rush in his face, Mahomes lofted a throw off his back foot, and Watson leaped over safety Cameryn Bynum (who mis-timed his jump) to come down with the ball.
Third-and-18.
It went for 33.
About time.
Quarterbacks miss throws. Even the best of them. But Mahomes has been off with his deep passes this year — completing just six of 18 in the initial four weeks.
3. The Rashee Rice emergence?
If you’re looking for a reason the Chiefs’ wide receivers will be better in the second quarter of the season than they were in first, your argument ought to start with Rashee Rice.
It’s becoming clear that Rice offers something the Chiefs don’t have otherwise in the receiver room: a guy with the ability to make plays in traffic. Five games into his career, he’s already the Chiefs’ best after-the-catch weapon, but the impressive feat on his 8-yard, go-ahead touchdown?
He held on.
Rice has had an issue with drops early in his career, which actually was the knock against him coming out of the draft. But Mahomes trusted on him on a 3rd-and-goal slant over the middle, and Rice shook off a hit at the goal line for the score.
The next month of his rookie year will look better than the initial month.
4. The flag that never happened
We could put the referees in the spotlight for one call every week, but since in this case they changed their minds on a flag, it’s probably worth getting into.
Chiefs cornerback L’Jarius Sneed was initially flagged for interfering with Vikings wide receiver Jordan Addison on a fourth-down incompletion.
Still not sure why.
Neither were the referees, apparently. They picked up the flag and corrected that call — but then they missed another on the same sequence.
Sneed removed his helmet to argue the flag, which one referee appeared to notice — you could see him mouthing, “Put your helmet on.” But he let him escape without punishment.
That deserved a flag, but it’s worth noting that the Chiefs would have retained possession, only lost the yardage.
5. The tall task
Literally.
The Chiefs’ defense faced the best receiver it’s seen all season because, well, Minnesota’s Justin Jefferson is the best receiver most teams will face all season.
The final line?
Jefferson had just three catches for 28 yards before departing early with a hamstring injury.
The Chiefs had a frustrating first-half drive against Jefferson, drawing not one, not two, but three penalty flags. At one point, Sneed, who frequently matched up with Jefferson on Sunday, pointed toward the sideline that he was OK to stay in the game after it appeared his emotions might be getting the best of him.
It’s time, or maybe past time, to consider the Chiefs’ collection of cornerbacks among the elite groups in the game.
This story was originally published October 8, 2023 at 6:33 PM.