Winners and Losers From Vikings' Week 5 Loss Against Chiefs

The Vikings lost another one-score game on Sunday, falling 27-20 against the Chiefs at U.S. Bank Stadium. It was yet another frustrating contest filled with missed opportunities for the Vikings, who are deep in a hole with their 1-4 record. An early fumble, questionable timeout management, and some controversial officiating decisions were also part of the story in this one.

Let's go over some of Minnesota's winners and losers from Sunday's game.

Winners

WR Jordan Addison

Addison's stat-line from this game doesn't look particularly wild: 6 catches on 9 targets for 64 yards and a touchdown. He had more yards back in Week 2 against the Eagles. But it was the way Addison reached those numbers against Kansas City that stood out. Two of his catches came on fourth downs, moving the sticks for the Vikings on critical plays. Another was on third down, setting up his third touchdown in five games. The rookie's sharp route-running and reliable hands were on full display in big moments for the Vikings in this game. If Justin Jefferson has to miss time, Addison will need to take on an even bigger role.

Vikings' offensive line

The Vikings' offensive line was not the reason for Sunday's loss. They weren't perfect — Ezra Cleveland got beat by Chris Jones for one of KC's three sacks — but they were absolutely good enough. Kirk Cousins had plenty of time to throw on the large majority of his dropbacks in this game. He had a clean pocket on his touchdown pass to Addison in the second quarter. Christian Darrisaw also blew up a Chiefs defensive back on Alexander Mattison's screen pass touchdown catch in the fourth. Garrett Bradbury's return from a back injury went fairly well, although he did briefly leave the game at one point.

Matt Daniels

With the Vikings down by four in the second quarter, Kevin O'Connell sent out the punt unit on a fourth and 2 from the Chiefs' 48. Boos rained down from the crowd. O'Connell made sure to sell it by looking frustrated on the sideline. He dialed up a fake that the Vikings worked on in practice this week — and they pulled it off perfectly. Josh Metellus took the direct snap from Andrew DePaola and handed it off to Ty Chandler, who used blocks from Josh Oliver, C.J. Ham, and Johnny Mundt to run for 15 yards and a first down. The Vikings wound up scoring a go-ahead touchdown on that series. Daniels, the special teams coordinator, deserves a lot of credit for designing that one.

This fake punt was nice. Key blocks from Josh Oliver and C.J. Ham, among others. pic.twitter.com/dYGhhL16Nb
— Will Ragatz (@WillRagatz) October 8, 2023

Losers

TE T.J. Hockenson

Hockenson has put up decent numbers this season, but the highest-paid tight end in the NFL (by total guaranteed money) has not actually played particularly well. The biggest issue has come on contested catch opportunities, which he has really struggled to secure through five games. There were two or three more passes in this game that Hockenson arguably could've and should've caught, but didn't. Two of them came on series where the Vikings didn't pick up a first down afterwards. I don't know if any would be classified as true "drops," but those are the balls Hockenson gets paid to catch.

TE Josh Oliver

The Vikings' No. 2 tight end has been excellent this season, primarily as a blocker. Unfortunately, he committed a costly error on the very first play of Sunday's game. Oliver caught a short pass, broke a tackle, and rumbled for a first down, but had the ball come out when he was being taken to the ground by multiple defenders. It was the Vikings' eighth lost fumble of the season and their 12th total turnover. The Chiefs capitalized and scored on a short field, and just like that, they had a 7-0 lead and the advantage of getting the ball to start the second half.

Vikings' secondary

It's hard to evaluate without watching the tape closely, but in real time, it felt like this wasn't a great game for the Vikings' secondary. Byron Murphy Jr. was in coverage on the Rashee Rice touchdown and was several feet away from Travis Kelce on his touchdown later in the third quarter. Mekhi Blackmon and Camryn Bynum both missed opportunities to potentially intercept Patrick Mahomes on deep passes. Harrison Smith got called for a huge pass interference penalty when he didn't turn his head around on a fourth down pass intended for Marquez Valdes-Scantling. Those were game-changing plays.

Kevin O'Connell

It's not necessarily the reason why the Vikings lost, but O'Connell's game management left plenty to be desired on Sunday. He burned all three of his second-half timeouts by the 9:05 mark in the fourth quarter, including two in the first seven minutes of the third quarter. One happened when the Vikings couldn't get their play called in time on offense. One was lost on a failed challenge of a Kelce catch on a big third down (which O'Connell said he doesn't regret, considering the situation). The final one was burned when the Vikings' defense didn't have the correct personnel grouping or formation for a big fourth down play.

Those timeouts certainly would've been nice to have late in the game.

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