MINNEAPOLIS — The Vikings ran 68 plays on offense and defended 57 by the Chiefs.
Minnesota won a pair of pivotal fourth-and-1 plays in Sunday's 16-10 victory at the University of Minnesota.
Trailing by 13 in the third quarter, Kansas City moved the ball to the Minnesota 7-yard line.
Brian Robison and Anthony Barr combined for a tackle of fullback Anthony Sherman for no gain, and the Chiefs opted to go for it on fourth down instead of attempting a 25-yard field.
Sharrif Floyd, however, thought otherwise. The defensive tackle surged through the line and tackled Charcandrick West for a slight loss.
"You've just got to make that play," Floyd said. "Sometimes you come free and sometimes you don't. On those times you do, you can't miss the layup, and I think that was that case. Great defensive call by the coach and great execution by the defense.
"(The offensive lineman) intended to block down, and as he went down [to Floyd's left], I came right at the edge of him and made the play," Floyd added.
The Vikings limited the Chiefs to 3-for-12 on third downs and 0-for-2 on fourth downs, but keeping points off the board in that situation loomed large when Kansas City pulled within a 13-10 margin with 8:46 left in the game.
"When it comes to those big plays, you've got to be able to stop them. Fourth-and-1 for instance, third-and-1 because those are drive extenders. If you can extend drives, you can score points. Our job is to not let you get out of six plays or three plays, so it's playing ball and understanding what situation you're in.
Minnesota answered a 42-yard touchdown from Alex Smith to Albert Wilson by driving 53 yards on 10 plays to get a 45-yard field goal from Blair Walsh, who connected on all three of his attempts (24, 45 and 45).
The Vikings built their lead by converting fourth-and-1 from the Kansas City 42 in the second quarter.
Adrian Peterson surged through the middle for a gain of 3 to extend Minnesota's second possession of the period. The decision by Vikings Head Coach Mike Zimmer and Offensive Coordinator Norv Turner was gritty given that the Chiefs already had stopped Peterson for no gain or losses on five run plays.
"It was a critical point in the game, and we needed it," Peterson said. "It's funny because I looked at the replay and I could have got more out of it if I would have pressed it all the way to the right and bounced it outside, but my mind was just like, 'Get the first down, get the 1 yard.' So we know what we have in our arsenal, we know when it's that type of situation that we can come through."
The drive was extended again three plays later when Steven Nelson was flagged for hitting Teddy Bridgewater too low. Bridgewater capped the drive with a 4-yard TD pass to Kyle Rudolph for a 10-0 lead with 4:43 left in the first half.
Minnesota improved to 4-for-6 on fourth-down conversions this season, which included a 48-yard touchdown run by Peterson at Denver in Week 4.
The conversion by Peterson against the Chiefs was the first allowed by Kansas City out of five attempts by opponents in 2015.
