The Chiefs' defense kept Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson to a relatively harmless 80 yards rushing in Sunday's win, a crucial component of K.C's victory. Courtesy of the Kansas City Star's Kent Babb:
"That was the biggest thing," defensive end Glenn Dorsey said. "Not letting him [Peterson] get going, knowing the type of running back he is."
Multi-tasking was considered the source of the Chiefs' 0-3 start, but in addition to their best showing of the season, the defense also waded into new territory - play calling:
Before a 54-yard attempt, Haley was waffling on whether to send Succop out for such a high-risk kick. If he made it, the Chiefs would take a 12-10 lead. But a miss might dissolve the confidence Succop had built from his three previous field goals.
Then, outside linebacker Andy Studebaker said the right thing to Haley at the right time.
"Kick it," Haley recalled Studebaker saying. "He’ll make it."
And via the Chiefs' official page, Cornerback Brandon Flowers:
"Every week, we feel like we can go out there and win. We’re a streaky team. You know, if we can get something going, we’ve got a lot of young guys on this streaky team. If we get one win, we can build on it – take it one game at a time. We just wanted to get over that hump and get that first win. Once I think we got the first win, everything will settle back down and we’ll go back to playing Chiefs football."
Linebacker Derrick Johnson:
"You’ve got to mix it up at times. Tamba [Hali] is a great pass rusher, one of the best pass rushers in the league. They always know where Tamba Hali is at times, so you’ve got to move him around a little bit. Tamba did a great job of fighting. Usually he’s going to have two guys on him. He just fought his tail off today and he got himself a couple of sacks."