Chiefs Cross Up Vikings, Bring Them Down, 24-21

The Minnesota Vikings went for the fake and Steve DeBerg didn’t blame them.

DeBerg, utilizing play-action fakes to 260-pound fullback Christian Okoye, drove the Kansas City Chiefs 78 yards to a touchdown with 9:35 left Sunday and beat the Vikings, 24-21.

“It wasn’t breakdowns by the defense,” DeBerg said. “When we play-action fake, usually a team does get a little out of whack. They’re trying to stop Christian Okoye with all the guys they can, and all of a sudden I have the ball going the other way. That is a tremendous burden for any defense.”

Okoye scored the go-ahead touchdown on a run from two yards out. On the winning drive, DeBerg found Bill Jones all alone for a 16-yard gain and connected with Rob Thomas, also uncovered, for 20 yards.

Both plays came after fakes to Okoye, who set up the score with an 11-yard run around left end.

“We didn’t do a good job of stopping the play-action pass,” Minnesota Coach Jerry Burns said. “We practiced against that bootleg, but we didn’t stop it very well. We didn’t cover their receivers.”

After Okoye’s go-ahead touchdown, the Vikings failed on a fourth and two with 2:14 left, and the Chiefs ran out the clock.

Practically given two touchdowns in the first quarter, the Chiefs had to rally after Minnesota took a 21-17 lead when Wade Wilson flipped a six-yard scoring pass to Herschel Walker in the third quarter.

DeBerg completed 16 of 28 passes for 196 yards and two touchdowns, but didn’t want any credit.

The Chiefs took a 14-0 lead in the first quarter after recovering fumbles by Wilson and Herschel Walker deep in Viking territory.

DeBerg threw a four-yard touchdown pass to Jones and a 22-yarder to Rob McNair.

Wilson rallied the Vikings with three touchdown passes, two of them six-yarders to Walker, and a 26-yarder to Steve Jordan. The first two tied the score, 14-14, and the third, after Kansas City’s Nick Lowery kicked a 43-yard field goal, gave Minnesota a 21-17 lead.