The Minnesota Vikings dropped to 1-4 after a loss to the Kansas City Chiefs despite having ample opportunities to pull off an upset at home.
A mere five weeks into the season, the Minnesota Vikings may have to officially shift focus toward the future. Following a loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, Minnesota is now 1-4 with far from an easy schedule ahead of them. There will be some winnable games over the next month, but the Vikings cannot afford to lose really any of them.
The Vikings have a ton of talent, but they just cannot stop shooting themselves in the foot time and time again this season. Sunday's loss opened up with a first-play fumble by Josh Oliver, and Minnesota was in the hole immediately.
Kansas City had some trouble finding the end zone throughout the afternoon, but Patrick Mahomes led plenty of long drives to keep the Vikings offense off the field. A strong second half from the visitors put the game away as Minnesota fought to come back but fell short at the end of the game.
One critical aspect of this loss was Kevin O'Connell's lack of game management, which cost the Vikings a real chance to score on the final drive. O'Connell burned all three of his timeouts by the 9-minute mark in the fourth quarter, leaving Minnesota without a chance to stop the clock prior to a Chiefs punt.
There have been far too many sloppy mistakes from the Vikings in all respects so far this season. It is hard to win games when you are undisciplined, and the Vikings are finding that out the hard way.