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Succop kicks Chiefs past winless Vikings

Oct 2, 2011 - 9:45 PM Kansas City, MO (Sports Network) - Ryan Succop connected on a career-high five field goals, leading the Kansas City Chiefs to a 22-17 win over the Minnesota Vikings at Arrowhead Stadium.

Succop nailed a career-long 54-yard try among his five kicks and Matt Cassel threw for 260 yards and one touchdown for the Chiefs (1-3), who avoided an 0-4 start.

Dwayne Bowe hauled in five passes for 107 yards and a touchdown, while Steve Breaston caught four balls for 91 yards in the victory.

Donovan McNabb completed 18-of-30 passes for 202 yards with two touchdowns and one interception, while Adrian Peterson racked up 80 yards on 23 carries in defeat.

Visanthe Shiancoe caught six passes for 58 yards while Devin Aromashodu and Michael Jenkins caught touchdown passes for the Vikings (0-4), who are winless after four games for the first time since 2002.

Following a three-and-out by Minnesota to open the game, the Chiefs took over with excellent field position at the Vikings' 43-yard line. Cassel led his team down to the Minnesota 22 before Succop connected on a 40-yard field goal, giving the Chiefs an early 3-0 lead.

The Vikings came right back on the ensuing possession, as McNabb led a nine- play, 80-yard drive and found Aromashodu streaking down the left sideline for a 34-yard strike to give Minnesota 7-3 lead.

With the Vikings on the move midway through the second quarter, the Chiefs defense came up with a big turnover. McNabb threw a screen pass behind Toby Gerhart and the ball went off his hands and into the arms of cornerback Brandon Carr, who returned the ball 15 yards.

Starting from their own 35, a 42-yard catch-and-run by Breaston on the first play got the Kansas City offense rolling. The drive stalled at the Minnesota six before Succop was true on a chip shot from 24 yards to cut the deficit to one.

Kansas City took a 9-7 lead just before halftime when Cassel led his team to the Vikings 33-yard line and Succop connected again, this time from 51 yards away as time expired.

After the break, Kansas City went three-and-out on the opening possession and gave the Vikings superb field position courtesy of a personal foul penalty on the punt return, which placed the ball into Chiefs territory at the 46.

From there, the Vikings went 31 yards down to the 15 and Ryan Longwell connected on a 33-yard field goal to give his team a 10-9 advantage.

The Chiefs grabbed the lead right back on the ensuing possession, with Breaston sparking the offense as he hauled in a 28-yard pass from Cassel on 2nd-and-4 to bring the ball up to the 41. The Chiefs worked their way down to the 36 and brought out Succop for his career-long 54-yard field goal, which he squeezed just inside the right upright to give his team a 12-10 edge.

"I'm so excited we won," Breaston said. "Just being out there and contributing, that's the big thing. I just want to contribute and help the team out. I'm so happy for these guys getting our first win."

After another Minnesota three-and-out, the Chiefs began their drive from the Vikings' 45 with four minutes to play in the third stanza, and just before the end of the quarter, Succop connected on his fifth field goal of the day from 22 yards out for a 15-10 margin.

Kansas City finally got into the end zone early in the fourth quarter when Cassel hooked up with a wide open Bowe on the left sideline. Bowe broke a few tackles and hustled to paydirt for a 52-yard touchdown catch and a 22-10 lead.

"You know what? It just wasn't good enough. We came up with stops at times and they made a couple big plays on us," Vikings defensive end Jared Allen said of his team's effort on defense.

With just under five minutes to go in the final quarter, Minnesota fought its way back into the game when McNabb led his team 70 yards in 13 plays, including a huge 20-yard completion to Bernard Berrian on 4th-and-14 to keep the drive alive. McNabb found Jenkins in the end zone to cut the deficit to 22-17.

McNabb had a chance to lead the Vikings on the game-winning drive with just over four minutes to go in the contest. A 15-yard completion to Shiancoe on second down and a 23-yard pass to Percy Harvin helped get the Vikings into Kansas City territory, but from there the drive stalled as McNabb threw four consecutive incompletions to give the ball back to KC with less than two minutes to go.

"We just told one another, 'Don't try to do too much. Just try to do what we've been doing all game, just play your position and let everything pan out.' That's what everybody kept saying and looking at each in the eye," Chiefs cornerback Brandon Flowers said of his team's defensive stand on the final drive.

The Chiefs ran out the clock to seal their first victory of the season.

Game Notes

With two TD passes on Sunday, McNabb has 234 in his career to surpass Steve Young for 21st on the all-time list. He is 2-1 in three career starts against the Chiefs...Kansas City leads the regular season series with Minnesota, 6-4, winning four of the past five meetings...Kansas City converted on 6-of-15 third downs, while Minnesota converted 5-of-14 on third down...Chiefs linebacker Tamba Hali finished with six solo tackles and two sacks.