Chiefs Defeat Adrian Peterson And His Vikings

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) _ Weapon No. 1 was shut down, so Kansas City turned to weapon No. 2 and nailed down its first victory since last New Year's Eve. <br/><br/>Damon Huard, giving up on getting any

Sunday, September 23rd 2007, 3:20 pm

By: News On 6

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) _ Weapon No. 1 was shut down, so Kansas City turned to weapon No. 2 and nailed down its first victory since last New Year's Eve.

Damon Huard, giving up on getting any production from Larry Johnson, took to the air and hit rookie wide receiver Dwayne Bowe with a fourth-quarter touchdown pass and the Chiefs beat Minnesota 13-10 Sunday to avoid what would have been their second 0-3 start in 27 years.

Johnson, still chipping away rust following his 25-day holdout and dogged by a defense trained squarely on him, was held to 42 yards on 24 carries. At one point in the third quarter, the two-time Pro Bowler lost yardage on three consecutive carries against a Minnesota defense stacking eight and sometimes nine men in the box.

So the Chiefs turned to Pro Bowl tight end Tony Gonzalez and Bowe, their first-round draft pick last April, to fuel their only sustained drive of the day _ a 12-play, 84-yard march that ended when Bowe beat Cedric Griffin in the corner of the end zone for a 16-yard catch.

Rookie Adrian Peterson rushed for 102 yards and caught three passes for 48 yards for Minnesota (1-2) and scored the Vikings' only touchdown on an 11-yard run. The Vikings' ``secret'' starter at quarterback turned out to be, as most people suspected, the well traveled Kelly Holcomb. Making his 22nd start of a 13-year career, Holcomb trotted onto the field after coach Brad Childress refused all week to disclose who would step in for the injured Tarvaris Jackson.