Chiefs’ scouting report: KC plays Vikings as Patrick Mahomes goes for sweep of the NFL

It’s taken an entire month, but CBS Sports’ top broadcast team finally will be calling a Chiefs game this season.

That’s just a little wisecrack, because of the Chiefs’ first four games, only one has been on CBS this season (Week 2 at Jacksonville).

But Jim Nantz and Tony Romo will be on the call for CBS when the Chiefs face the Vikings on Sunday. Barring an unfortunate turn of events, it won’t be the final time in 2023 they work a Chiefs game.

Each week, I take an early look at the Chiefs’ next opponent, and here is a quick scouting report of the Vikings, 1-3. Kickoff is at 3:25 p.m. on Sunday, and the game will air on CBS (KCTV Ch. 5).

1. Improved rushing attack

The Vikings entered Sunday ranked 31st in the NFL in rushing (66.3 yards per game), but they ran over the Panthers in a 21-13 victory in Charlotte, North Carolina..

Minnesota rushed for 135 yards, averaging 5.9 yards per attempt. Alexander Mattison had 95 yards on 17 attempts, while Cam Akers, the former Rams running back, picked up 40 yards in just five carries.

2. Turnover issues

The Vikings won Sunday despite an issue that has plagued them all season: turnovers. Minnesota lost the turnover margin (minus-1) against Carolina as quarterback Kirk Cousins threw a pair of interceptions.

Minnesota has turned the ball over 11 times this season, including seven lost fumbles, and they’ve earned just three takeaways. The Vikings’ negative-8 turnover margin is second-worst in the NFL, ahead of only the Raiders (negative-9), according to the Football Database..

3. Davenport delivers

Pass-rush specialist Marcus Davenport had played just four snaps before Sunday because of an ankle injury. But Davenport, who signed a one-year contract with Minnesota after playing five seasons in New Orleans, looked healthy Sunday and he had a big game.

Davenport had a sack, a tackle for loss, a quarterback hit and four total tackles. Minnesota had five sacks in the game.

4. Fellow Netflix star

Cousins, who was part of the “Quarterback” docuseries with Mahomes on Netflix, is off to a strong start. He’s completed 68.8% of his passes for 1,214 yards with an NFL-best 11 touchdowns. Cousins has thrown four interceptions.

He’s also leading the league with 19 completions of 20 or more yards. A whopping 14 of those have been to star wide receiver Justin Jefferson, who leads the NFL with 543 receiving yards.

On Sunday, Jefferson caught two touchdown passes.

5. Mahomes goes for 31

Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes has beaten 30 NFL teams in his career, and he’ll have a chance to make it a clean sweep of the league on Sunday.

The Vikings are the only team Mahomes hasn’t beaten, although the Chiefs have downed Minnesota once in the Mahomes Era. It came in 2019 at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium when Mahomes was out after dislocating his kneecap in a game at Denver.

Backup quarterback Matt Moore helped the Chiefs rally for a 26-23 win over the Vikings.

It’s not a huge milestone, but it would be a cool achievement for Mahomes.