The first four weeks of the NFL season are over, and we’ve seen a rollercoaster of events unfold. From shocking upsets to thrilling comebacks, it’s been an unpredictable ride. However, amidst all the chaos, one thing has stood firm – the Kansas City Chiefs and the Minnesota Vikings have continued to play winning football, securing impressive victories week after week.
The Chiefs and the Vikings are the only unbeaten teams remaining in the NFL, and on one end, it’s expected, but on the other end, it’s quite surprising. I can’t say that people are surprised about the Chiefs being undefeated. Even though they could easily be 0-4, thanks to the brilliant mind of head coach Andy Reid and the heroics of their quarterback Patrick Mahomes, they have been able to escape with wins in their first four games.
In game one against the Baltimore Ravens, Lamar Jackson threw the ball just a little too far, which resulted in Isaiah Likely’s last-second catch being ruled out of bounds because his front toe stepped out in the back of the endzone.
The Cincinnati Bengals dominated most of the game in their second matchup, but things took a dramatic turn in the fourth quarter, ultimately costing them the win. They led until Joe Burrow fumbled the ball, and KC took their first lead. The Bengals did retake the lead with a field goal, but Pat Mahomes and the Chiefs responded with their own field goal, which gave them the lead and the victory.
Their third game against the Atlanta Falcons was a tale of two halves. In the first half, the Chiefs couldn’t spot the Dirty Birds. Both teams battled it out going back-and-forward. Every time the Falcons scored, the Chiefs scored, but ATL held a slight lead 14-13 lead at halftime. In the second half, it was a completely different story. Atlanta only scored three points compared to the Chief’s nine points. It seemed like ATL ran out of offense and lost themselves the game.
This past week, in their game against the Los Angeles Chargers, the Chiefs looked cooked. Out of the gate, the Chargers scored the first 10 points in the first quarter and the game seemed to be theirs. Unfortunately, it was theirs to lose and that’s exactly what happened. After scoring 10, they didn’t score any more points and the Chiefs scored 17 unanswered resulting in another W.
Even though the Chief faced challenges, Mahomes expressed his gratitude to the defense for keeping them in the game. He credited them for enabling him to work his magic in the end and secure the victory for the team.
“We weren’t playing good, but I think the best thing is, no one talks about it and they start to now, but our defense is really good,” Mahomes said after the 17-10 win against the Chargers. “They know how to shut the door and keep us in games. Then they believe that the offense is going to find a way to score enough points at the end.”
On the other hand, the entire football world is shocked that the Vikings are undefeated. When the season began, they lost their first-round quarterback J.J. McCarthy, who was expected to start, and everyone believed the Vikings were in rebuilding mode once again. But they proved us all wrong. They were only expected to win one game, yet they emerged victorious in all four.
In the first game of the season, the Minnesota Vikings were only favored by one point, and they managed to secure a convincing 28-6 victory over the New York Giants. Moving on to their next matchup, the Vikings were the underdogs by 3.5 points, but they defied the odds and triumphed over the San Francisco 49ers with a score of 23-17. In the subsequent game, the Vikings, once again defying the odds as 1.5-point underdogs, dominated the Houston Texans with a resounding 34-7 victory. Most recently, in a highly anticipated showdown, the Vikings, with odds stacked against them as 2.5-point underdogs, emerged victorious over their arch-rivals, the Green Bay Packers, with a thrilling 31-29 win.
So how are they doing this? The Minnesota Vikings have been excelling in three key areas this season. Firstly, their defense, under the leadership of defensive coordinator Brian Flores, has been outstanding. The Vikings currently lead the league in sacks and pressures, rank second in takeaways and opponents’ rushing yards per game, and are fourth in opponents’ points per game.
The second reason is their superstar wide receiver, Justin Jefferson. This season J.J. is fifth in receiving yards, tied first with four touchdowns and his 17.9 yards per catch ranks fifth. True his numbers may be down from his previous season, but that could be for two reasons. Reason No. 1 is that the Vikings are blowing teams out so his usage is down from last year, and secondly, quarterback Sam Darnold has attempted only106 passes through four games compared to Kirk Cousins’ 157 attempted passes in the first four weeks of the 2023 season.
The last reason has to be because of their quarterback Sam Darnold. He has been performing exceptionally well this year, achieving a passer rating of over 100 in each of the four games. In the games against the Giants, 49ers, Texans, and Packers, he finished with impressive ratings of 113.2, 109.1, 119.2, and 123.4, respectively. And although Jeffersons’ numbers are down, the QB-receiver duo is still the best in the NFL. When Darnold is targeting Jefferson, his completion percentage is 69 percent with 358 yards. He has five completions over 20 yards, four touchdowns to zero interceptions, and a passer rating of 150.6.
Head coach Kevin O’Connell attributes his team’s impressive 4-0 start to their ability to consistently take the lead in games. Minnesota has already scored 38 points in the first quarter, surpassing their first-quarter point total from the entire 2023 season, which was only 40 points.
“I would say this much, I think every game, when it starts out 0-0, you may not be playing from behind but you’re one play away from playing from behind. You’re one play away from not taking the opening kickoff. When you do get the football like we did, if you don’t go down and score that first drive, the momentum is now quickly on the other team’s side,” continued O’Connell. “The reason we haven’t played from behind very much is we’re playing good football to start games.”
