Chiefs look for key win over Vikings

The Kansas City Chiefs will attempt to continue to keep pace with the New England Patriots for home field advantage throughout the playoffs as they travel to Minneapolis this Saturday to take on the Vikings.

Kansas City is coming off a huge 45-17 victory over the Detroit Lions and should be ready to play.

The Vikings are coming off of a 13-10 loss to Chicago and have some problem areas to deal with.

One thing that the Chiefs have to worry about in this game is the Vikings running game, as the Chief's defense has been allowing runners to gain a lot of yardage lately.

Last week, the Vikings piled up 178 yards on the ground against a Chicago defense that, prior to game, had been very good against the run.

The Vikings have three very capable running backs that could do a lot of damage to the Chief's defense.

In addition, the Vikings also have Randy Moss, one of the leagues best and most dangerous receivers, tight end Jim Kleinsasser, one of Daunte Culpepper's favorite targets, and, of course, Culpepper himself, a quarterback who can do things both in the air and on the ground.

The Chiefs defense will really need to play well against the Vikings in order to come out with a win.

If they can't, the Chiefs will be drawn into a shootout, which might lead to a high scoring game that the Chiefs would like to avoid.

The first matchup to watch is Moss going up against the Chief's secondary, as Kansas City needs to avoid being burned by Moss.

The Chief's defense may have to do what the Bears defense did against them --sacrifice the running game in order to protect the passing game.

It seemed to work for Chicago, but the Chiefs can ill afford to sacrifice the run in this case.

The Chief's defense is a unit that has a lot of injured players playing right now and it has become a problem in preventing opposing offenses from running all over them.

They seem to play good when facing teams that are struggling, however, they have been playing poorly when facing teams with strong offenses and winning records.

The Vikings defense isn't as strong or aggressive as most NFL teams, but it is fast and they lead the league in interceptions.

Trent Green isn't a quarterback who makes too many mistakes so the Vikings might find themselves in trouble.

Green has been one of the league's best quarterbacks this season, in terms of passing yards and interceptions, and with the core of receivers that the Chiefs possess, Green could have a big day against the Vikings.

Another player who the Vikings will need to watch is running back Priest Holmes.

Holmes is having an outstanding season and he might just be too much for the Viking's defense to handle.

Look for Holmes to have his usual big game against Minnesota and look for him to be the difference maker between a Chief's victory and a loss.

Other weapons in the Chief's arsenal include Tony Gonzalez, Eddie Kennison, Johnnie Morton and, of course, Dante Hall.

The caliber and quality of these receivers will most likely be too much for the Vikings secondary.

In addition, the Chief's Hall may have an opportunity to run back a punt or a kickoff, as Minnesota's special teams play hasn't been performing too well as of late.

This promises to be an exciting game with lots of offense.

However, the Chiefs have the edge and should come out on top of the Vikings, perhaps in a big way, and move one step closer to home field advantage throughout the upcoming playoffs.