Butker’s late FGs help Chiefs rally past Vikings
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Harrison Butker watched his 44yard field goal split the uprights, the clocks inside Arrowhead Stadium reading zero, and the Chiefs kicker turned and sprinted the other way in celebration.
The first person to join him? Patrick Mahomes.
The reigning NFL MVP, who missed his second game while recovering from a dislocated kneecap, looked just fine as he joined Butker and his teammates in a midfield mob after their heart-stopping 26-23 victory Sunday over the Vikings.
“I was sprinting down, maybe just from my soccer background growing up – that’s what you do when you score,” said Butker, who thought the winner might have been tipped. “When I was going I saw Patrick, and I wanted to embrace him and I’m like, ‘Nah, he can’t get hurt.’ ”
Matt Moore started in Mahomes’ place and threw for 275 yards and a touchdown, and he made the crucial plays when they mattered. He hit favorite target Tyreek Hill to convert a key third down and set up Butker’s career best-tying 54-yard field goal to knot the score, then found Hill again a couple of minutes later to make the winner a little more manageable.
“I thought, Matt, that was a gutsy performance by him,” said Chiefs coach Andy Reid, whose team snapped a threegame skid at Arrowhead Stadium. “He took a couple of licks there and he got back up and finished. But just him calming the storm I thought was good.”
Hill finished with six catches for 140 yards for the Chiefs (6-3), including a spectacular TD grab, while Damien Williams ran for 125 yards – most of it on a 91-yard TD run.
Kirk Cousins threw for 220 yards and three TDs for the Vikings (6-3), though he struggled to deal with the Chiefs’ blitzes late. Dalvin Cook was held to 71 yards rushing while top wide receiver Stefon Diggs had one catch for 4 yards.
The Chiefs largely controlled the first half, then suddenly it was the Vikings who had taken control at the start of the second half. The Chiefs came back on Williams’ 91-yard TD run, then Minnesota answered.
The Vikings marched 75 yards without facing third down until the last play. That is when Cousins hit Kyle Rudolph from 3 yards out for the TD against a defense with 10 players on the field.
After trading punts, the Chiefs put together another drive. Moore hit Hill to convert a third down, and Butker matched his career long with a 54-yard field goal. It was a monumental kick, and he had another coming.
“This was a great win, a great team win,” Hill said. “We all did our thing, and this team needed this victory because the vibe in the locker room the last few weeks has been down. This is great, especially against a great team like this that has got a great quarterback, great coach, great team, period. So this was a great win for us.”