After Moment of Mediocrity, Mahomes Meets Motivated Minnesota Vikings

    After two weeks of facing off with subpar opponents, the Kansas City Chiefs now head north to meet the dangerous, desperate Minnesota Vikings. KC and even Patrick Mahomes made ugly mistakes that helped keep last week's game close until the very end. How will the Chiefs respond to the eyebrow-raising mediocrity exhibited in their last performance? Improving their red zone efficiency would be a huge step in the right direction.

    KC ranked second in the NFL last season in red zone efficiency with 71%. This year, their 56% ranks 17th league-wide. That could explain the drop from first in the league in scoring last season to 9th in the league right now. Despite never yet playing up to their potential this year, the numbers indicate that even a stale Chiefs offense is top-ten. They rank in the top ten for scoring, passing yards, rushing yards and total yards. Mahomes is still top-ten in passing yards and touchdown passes, and he currently ranks fourth in QBR.

    The Vikings' offense enters this contest with the NFL's third-highest passing yards per game average and perhaps the NFL's best wide receiver. Justin Jefferson currently has the most receiving yards in the league with 543 in four games. His success isn't translating into success for Minnesota, though. The Vikings lost close games to the Bucs, Eagles and Chargers, and they just beat the Panthers 21-13 last week.The 3-1 Detroit Lions now lead the NFC North, so Minnesota needs to make up some ground soon or lose all hope of winning their division.

    It's fair for Chiefs Kingdom to be a bit scared of this Minnesota offense when KC just made Zach Wilson look legit for nearly an entire football game. Nick Bolton will be a game-time decision, but the other major pieces of the Chiefs defense are healthy. Trent McDuffie will have a long, difficult day at work, but help from Justin Reid and other pieces of KC's strong secondary should be enough to limit what the Vikings do best.

    Minnesota's defense ranks 20th in total yards allowed and 19th in points allowed, so KC's offense can probably score enough to win this game without performing at the very peak of their capabilities. Don't be too upset if the 1-3 Vikings keep this game close; they're desperate and talented, more-so than the Jets. I think we'll see a solid bounce-back performance from KC and a hard-earned 31-24 victory.

Taylor Swift Appears Live as Chiefs Face Jets, Starring Taylor Swift, with Guest Appearance from Taylor Swift

    It's a beautiful autumn day in East Rutherford, New Jersey, and the 2-1 Kansas City Chiefs are ready to maintain their new-gained momentum. After handling the Chicago Bears with no stress last week, KC faces another dysfunctional franchise with bummed out fans tonight when they square up with the 1-2 New York Jets. Zach Wilson's struggles and Patrick Mahomes' success are well-documented topics at this point, but the continued legitimacy of KC's defense is a whole new story.

    This season's Chiefs defense is the best Mahomes has ever been paired with, and so far, it's not even close. Only the Browns, Bills and Cowboys have allowed fewer points per game than KC's average of 13.3. Pro Football Focus just proclaimed that Trent McDuffie is the most effective cornerback in the league right now. Chris Jones looks like he should skip training camp every season. Missing Nick Bolton, who's emerging as a truly elite linebacker, would typically be a big deal, but not this week. Nobody in Chiefs Kingdom fears that Zach Wilson will carve KC up by exploiting this weakness. There are probably more people wondering if he'll benched.

    Bears QB Justin Fields now has the league's worst QBR after the Chiefs defense held him to under 100 passing yards and a 50% completion percentage last week. Zach Wilson is the owner of the second-worst QBR among all qualified quarterbacks. While the Chiefs now rank fifth league-wide in total yards and points per game, their opponent tonight ranks dead-last in both of those categories. Jets fans looking to spin this into something positive could argue that their team has only faced great defenses, those being the Bills, Cowboys and Patriots. Unfortunately for Jets fans, that trend continues tonight at MetLife Stadium.

    So, what could possibly make this game close? I often find myself talking about penalties and turnovers when the Chiefs face a struggling opponent because they should be the only things that could threatens KC's chances at success against subpar competition. The Chiefs drew three penalties for 25 yards last week, which was much cleaner than Week 2's 12 penalties for 94 yards in Jacksonville. While only four teams in football have turned the ball over more times than KC's six total giveaways, it's worth noting that two of those turnovers came from Blaine Gabbert garbage-time interceptions. KC and New York both have four takeaways total this year, and New York's overall differential is one better than KC's -2. Avoiding numerous costly mistakes and sticking to the same offensive game-plan that's been dominating for half a decade now should be enough to ensure success for the Chiefs tonight. 

    The Jets defense should be motivated though, and KC could have understandable psychological struggles with treating this game with the same importance as the Super Bowl. That could be enough to make this game closer and uglier than fans in Chiefs Kingdom would like. I'm predicting a 27-13 victory and a whole lot more Taylor Swift coverage whenever the broadcast crew gets bored. There, I said Taylor Swift. Does this please you, Search Engine Optimization robots? Taylor Swift? Taylor Swift.