The Vikings just didn’t play a good football game against the Packers on Sunday.  Kelly Holcomb completed 21 of 39 passes for 258 yards with 1 TD pass and 1 interception but most of his yards came at garbage time.  Adrian Peterson was outstanding again as he carried the football 12 times for 112 yards (9.3 ypc) and he also caught 1 pass for 6 yards.  The Vikings also put him back on kickoffs and he returned 3 kicks for 98 yards (32.7 avg).  Chester Taylor pitched in with 8 carries for 40 yards.  WRs Bobby Wade (5 rec, 83 yards) and Sidney Rice (6 rec, 75 yards, TD) both had their best games of the season so far.  Visanthe Shiancoe also pitched in with 4 catches for 38 yards (9.5 avg).  The Vikings finished up with 155 yards on 22 carries (7.0 ypc) and they completed 21 of 39 passes for 227 yards.

The defense was led by Antoine Winfield (10 tackles) and E.J. Henderson (9 tackles).  The Packers finished up with 46 yards on 20 carries (2.3 ypc) and they completed 32 of 45 passes for 338 yards.

The Vikings had to be a little bit worried when starting running back Chester Taylor got hurt at the end of the pre-season.  But, they have no worries now as rookie Adrian Peterson is proving to be the real deal!  He has carried the ball 64 times for 271 yards (4.2 ypc) with 1 TD run and he has also caught 8 passes for 160 yards (20.0 avg) with 1 TD grab.  Peterson has all of the skills to be a dominating running back for a long, long time.  He can score from anywhere on the field and he’s not afraid to put his shoulder down when he has to.  Mewelde Moore is an outstanding backup running back for the Vikings.  He has carried the ball 10 times for 71 yards (7.1 ypc) and he has also caught 6 passes for 46 yards (7.7 avg).  Moore could start for a lot of NFL teams but in Minnesota he’s usually third in line for carries.  When Chester Taylor gets back the backfield will be even stronger behind the QB.

The Vikings wasted another good defensive effort yesterday in the loss against the Chiefs.  QB Kelly Holcomb got his first start with the Vikings and he completed 14 of 28 passes for 165 yards with 0 TD passes and 0 interceptions.  Adrian Peterson was outstanding again with 25 carries for 102 yards (4.1 ypc) with 1 TD run and he also caught 3 passes for 48 yards (16.0 avg).  Mewelde Moore pitched in with 4 carries for 21 yards (5.3 ypc).  TE Visanthe Shiancoe finally showed some life with 3 catches for 51 yards (17.0 avg) and WR Bobby Wade pitched in with 4 grabs for 35 yards (8.8 avg).  The Vikings finished up with 123 yards rushing on 29 carries (4.2 ypc) and they completed 14 of 29 passes for 129 yards.

The defense was great against the run but they made some errors against the pass that cost them this game.  Linebackers Ben Leber and Chad Greenway both made 8 tackles to lead the way for the defense.  The Chiefs only rushed for 50 yards on 31 carries (1.6 ypc) but they completed 20 of 29 passes for 201 yards.

http://scores.espn.go.com/nfl/boxscore?gameId=270923012 

The 1-1 Minnesota Vikings will be visiting Arrowhead Stadium where the desperate 0-2 Kansas City Chiefs call home.  The Vikings are likely to start Kelly Holcomb at QB and he will give the offense a new dimension as he has been a good passer in his NFL career.  Look for the Vikings to open up the offense a little bit this week against the tough Chiefs defense that is only allowing 277.0 yards per game this season.  Still, the Vikings won’t abandon a running game that is averaging 131.0 yards rushing per game.  Rookie running back Adrian Peterson (169 yards rushing, 112 yards receiving) will be the main man on offense for the Vikings so linebackers Donnie Edwards, Napoleon Harris and Derrick Johnson better be up to the challenge.  Kelly Holcomb is really good at play action passing so if the Vikings get the running game going the Vikings should have their best game throwing the ball all season.  With that in mind the young safeties of the Chiefs better keep their eyes on the football.

This is the week that the Chiefs better open up the offense.  The Vikings only allow 76.0 yards rushing per game and 3.1 ypc so far this season and they have one of the best defensive lines in all of football.  Herman Edwards better not be a hard head and feed the ball to Larry Johnson (26 car, 98 yards) because he could have a hard time finding running room.  The offensive line also better protect Damon Huard well as the Vikings already have 10 sacks this season.  That means the Chiefs should run short pass routes which would play well for rookie WR Dwyane Bowe and TE Tony Gonzalez.

PREDICTION:  If the Vikings do indeed start Kelly Holcomb I think they will win the game and Holcomb will remain the starting QB for a while.  If Tavaris Jackson or Brooks Bollinger start Sunday I like the Chiefs to win their first game of the season.