Kansas City Chiefs: 10 likes and 10 dislikes from Week 9 vs Vikings

6. The Three-Headed Receiving Attack

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In the past in this segment, I’ve heralded Chiefs quarterbacks for spreading the ball around. That didn’t happen as much against the Vikings, but three players made the most of their targets:

• Tight end Travis Kelce caught seven passes on nine targets for 62 yards.
• Wide receiver Sammy Watkins caught seven passes on 10 targets for 63 yards.
• Wide receiver Tyreek Hill caught six passes on eight targets for 140 yards and one touchdown.

No other Chiefs player had more than two catches or more than five yards receiving. Perhaps with the return of Mahomes, the others will get back into the action, but on Sunday, the triumvirate named above were essential for Kansas City’s victory.

7. Dalvin Cook, Limited

Cook, the Vikings starting running back, entered the ballgame with a league-leading 823 rushing yards, and had run for at least 98 yards in six of Minnesota’s first eight games. But the Chiefs limited him to 71 yards on 21 carries, well below his average per carry. And while Cook added four catches for 45 yards, the Chiefs managed to keep him out of the end zone all day long.

8. Stefon Diggs, Limited

Stefon Diggs entered the game against the Chiefs having collected over 100 yards receiving in three straight games (all with at least 142) and in four of his last five. He’d also caught at least three passes in every game since Week 3.

But on Sunday, he caught one pass on four targets for four yards. At one point, he added a rush on an end-around for a dozen yards, but that was it. The Chiefs were able to bottle up the Vikings top receiving threat from start to finish.

9. Some Miscellaneous Goodness

Three things here. First, the Chiefs only committed one turnover on Sunday. Second, the team committed only four penalties all game long. Third, the Chiefs won the time-of-possession battle against a team known for running the ball.

Those little things helped the team get a much-needed victory.

10. A Team-Wide Win

In Patrick Mahomes’ absence, your Kansas City Chiefs played magnificent team football. The defense smothered the Broncos before limiting the Packers and stepping it up, especially at the end of the game, against the Vikings.

The offense found more of a balance between passing and running the football with Moore the starter. And, disregarding a gaffe on Sunday to start the second half, the special teams has picked it up, especially Butker looking more automatic than he has all season.

The win over the Vikings was a great way to start November.