Tomorrow, two teams at the bottom of the standings will square off, and one is guaranteed not to have their fourth loss of the season (I hesitate to say they will get their first win of the season because a tie is possible).
The 0-3 Chiefs take on the 0-3 Vikings in Kansas City tomorrow, and both teams are looking for their first win of the season. While the Chiefs are coming off a heartbreaking loss to the San Diego Chargers, the Vikings are coming off three straight weeks of disappointing finishes. In their three losses, the Vikings have lead at halftime 17-7 against the Chargers, 17-0 against the Bucs, and 20-0 against the Lions. In those three games, they have scored a combined 6 points in the second half, and have lost those games by 7, 4, and 3 in overtime respectively.
When those three games are your result, you know you have problems on offense and defense. Either teams are figuring you out at halftime or you just don't have the will to finish the game. And as disappointing as the Chiefs have been this year, I would find it unbearable to watch three straight weeks of my team blowing the game with the lead (I can't even remember what it's like to have a lead).
But even though both teams haven't won a game this season, most analysts are picking the Vikings to win this game on the road thanks to Adrian Peterson and their number 3 rush offense. In fact, Peterson is less than 50 yards shy of matching the entire rush offense of the Chiefs this season.
At the quarterback position, both players have, at times, been viewed as liabilities by fans. While Matt Cassel went and threw 3 INTs in his first game this season, Donovan McNabb went and threw for only 39 yards. In fact, McNabb's performance has been so shaky that many wonder if he loses this game Sunday, if he won't be benched in favor of first round draft pick Christian Ponder.
And of course, how could I write about this upcoming game without mentioning the Kansas City return of Jared Allen? Allen was my favorite player on the Chiefs when he was around, and I thought it stupid that we chose Larry Johnson over Jared Allen for the future. Carl Peterson ran him out of town and now he's been doing nothing short of putting together Hall of Fame numbers. Since being traded to the Vikings following the 2007 season, he has 40 sacks through three full seasons, and already has 4.5 sacks in three games this year. And although we got plenty in return for Allen (Branden Albert and Jamaal Charles draft picks), you have to wonder about how dominate this team could have been with him still on it.
Match-ups
Matt Cassel: 54/82 (66%) 428 yards, 3 TD, 5 INT
Donovan McNabb: 47/81 (58%) 478 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT
Dexter McCluster: 21 carries, 138 yards
Adrian Peterson: 58 carries, 296 yards, 3 TD
Dwayne Bowe: 11 reception, 185 yards, 1 TD
Michael Jenkins: 15 receptions, 143 yards, 1 TD
Defense:
Chiefs: Passing - 21st in NFL, Rushing - 28th in NFL, Total - 23rd in NFL
Vikings: Passing - 29th in NFL, Rushing - 4th in NFL, Total - 20th in NFL
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