Vikings Plan To Beat Chiefs On The Grass, On The Ground

With the NFL’s leading rusher and a ground game at the top of the league, Minnesota will challenge Kansas City’s 27th-ranked defense with a simple plan on Sunday.



If you ask someone who they thought was the primary running back for the Kansas City Chiefs, they would probably have to think about it.



That’s because the Chiefs are far from a running team under head coach Andy Reid, and the fact that their offensive backfield features a platoon of players like LeSean McCoy, Damien Williams, and Darrel Williams running the ball.



Kansas City has attempted only 170 rushes in eight games (21 a game), and rushed for only 664 yards, a measly average of 83 yards a contest. In addition, their per rush average is below four yards cumulatively in 2019.



In summary, it’s not the strength of the team.



Against the run, the Chiefs are even lower in rank. They are 30th in yards allowed per game (145), and also 30th in per rush average allowed at a remarkable 4.9 yards carry.



Run, Dalvin, Run



It doesn’t take a terribly high IQ to consider a successful stratagem for the Vikings to take against the Kansas City defense on Sunday.



Running back Dalvin Cook, now the NFL’s leading rusher with 832 yards, has the opportunity to play on the natural grass of Kansas City’s Arrowhead Stadium on Sunday and make this contest one where the ball stays close to the Earth on the Viking side throughout.



His compatriot, Alex Mattison, with less finesse and more downhill power, will also most likely have a significant role in this game. Not only in spelling Cook, but in taking a straight thump to a tiring Chiefs front seven in the game’s second half.



The Vikings are now averaging 160 yards a game by rush, and a 4.9 average per carry.

Game On The Line



Kansas City defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo is aware that he has a challenge to face on Sunday, and most likely will deploy a healthy selection of run blitzes to keep Minnesota from controlling the clock with a steady and successful rush and keeping the ball out of the hands of the Chiefs combustible offense.



Of course, such a plan runs the risk of both the play-action and screen game accruing chunks of yardage, and Spagnulo can’t simply depend on it.



The Vikings offensive line has struggled this year with penalties in pass protection, but they have also proven that they are a tough and improving bunch on the move in the run game.

Gary Kubiak’s zone-run scheme has worked beyond all expectations, and the offensive options the Vikings have employed out of it have shown a sundry of success. It bodes well for a team entering the second half of the season showing a true balance between their run and pass games.

Chief Weapons



With Chiefs quarterback and NFL MVP Patrick Mahomes most likely out of this game–or physically limited in it–how can the Chiefs slow down the Vikings game on the grass?



Look for the Chiefs to play on the upper plane of Arrowhead with quick passes, misdirection runs, and field-stretching players like wide receivers Tyreek Hill and Mecole Hardman, both elite speedsters.



All-Pro tight end Travis Kelce will undoubtedly get his catches, but it is a task of Mike Zimmer’s to keep him from accruing crucial first downs.



The Vikings will check the Cheif’s vertical game with quarterback pressure, and several blitz packages depending on down and distance. But in a game against such speed, Zimmer won’t risk things by getting too creative. His safeties will play it safe.



Kansas City Cooking

In a game that some would have pegged as a high-scoring affair earlier in the year, the circumstances seem to play against such a thing happening on Sunday. The Chiefs will play more conservatively because they will be limited by the talent they are missing, and the Vikings will be doing the same because of the talent they possess.



Running the ball with success takes time off the clock–and the team doing it usually isn’t in a hurry.



The thing to look for in this week nine contest is Dalvin Cook knocking on 1000 yards rushing for the year, and a tired Kansas City defense with plenty of grass stains on the crimson-and-white of their uniforms when it’s done.

