Inconclusive replays cost Shiancoe a TD

KANSAS CITY, MO. - Tight end Visanthe Shiancoe led the Vikings with 51 receiving yards on three catches Sunday against the Chiefs, but a catch he wasn't credited with was a key to the game.

In the second quarter, halfback Mewelde Moore threw a pass from the Kansas City 8 that Shiancoe appeared to catch in the right corner of the end zone. As Shiancoe celebrated, however, the officials ruled it an incomplete pass. Vikings coach Brad Childress challenged the call, but referee Walt Anderson upheld the ruling after a review.

"There was no doubt in my mind" Shiancoe caught it, Childress said. "I only got one look at it. They just said that if they would have called it a touchdown they would have left it a touchdown and if they called it incomplete it would stay incomplete. They just couldn't find anything to roll it back the other way."

Said Shancoe: "I thought it was going to be reversed, but obviously it wasn't. I don't get paid to make calls, I get paid to play football, and they made that call. I felt like I caught it solid, had my elbow under it. Never even touched the ground."

The replays provided by Fox did not contain a clear angle of Shiancoe. Anderson told Childress he had access to four views of the play. A Fox spokesman said Sunday that seven cameras were in use for Sunday's game at Arrowhead Stadium. That is the number the network uses for most of its games. The so-called "A game" on Fox, which on Sunday was the Giants-Redskins, gets 12 cameras.

Instead of the Shiancoe touchdown, the Vikings' drive ended with a 22-yard field goal from Ryan Longwell. It was Longwell's 250th career field goal.

Peterson steps up

Adrian Peterson ran for 102 yards on 25 carries, his second 100-yard rushing day in three games. Peterson's output ended the Chiefs' streak of not allowing a 100-yard rusher at home at 23 games. That tied Pittsburgh for the longest active streak in the NFL.

Peterson did have one miscue, losing his first fumble of the season in the second quarter at the Vikings 29. Defensive end Jared Allen forced the fumble and cornerback Patrick Surtain recovered. Kansas City got a field goal on its ensuing drive. Peterson also lost the ball on the play before and the Chiefs recovered. However, that was overturned on a challenge.

Bad idea

Rookie receiver Aundrae Allison made a couple of questionable choices on kickoff returns, twice electing to bring the ball out from the end zone. This included a fourth-quarter return on which Kansas City kicker Dave Rayner put the ball 5 yards deep into the end zone. Allison got only to the Vikings 18 and received a talking-to from Childress after reaching the sideline.

"The big thing is to do it with conviction," Childress said. "We've kind of got a spot where we don't want to bring it from. I don't know that he did it with tremendous conviction. Everybody needs to do their job. Nobody is going to win the game with something miraculous."

No finger-pointing

After yet another struggling performance by the offense, several Vikings defensive players were asked whether they're upset with the team's offensive players.

"I'm not going to get into that," cornerback Antoine Winfield said. "It's not offense vs. defense or whatever. This is a team. We win together and lose together."

Said Chad Greenway, a linebacker: "We're never going to point fingers. That's why we're a family. We're going to win as a family. We're a tight-knit group, and that's how we're going to stay."

There was, however, a level of frustration in the locker room. "I don't have anything to say," defensive tackle Pat Williams said. "There's nothing to say."

While the Vikings defenders didn't call out the offensive players, they did speak about the reality of the pressure that's on the defense.

"We let them get that one [touchdown] drive," safety Darren Sharper said. "But the nature of our team is we can't let them do that at all. We have to be stout as a defense. We can't allow an offense to move the ball at all on us.

"But, unfortunately, that's the nature of the NFL. You can say you want to go out and keep people from doing anything on you for the entire game, but that rarely happens. Teams are going to move the ball at least once in a while."

Taylor inactive

Running back Chester Taylor (hip injury) and fullback Tony Richardson (injured left forearm) were both inactive for a second game in a row.

Richardson was a beloved figure as a premier blocking back in Kansas City before signing with the Vikings.

"I was definitely looking forward to it," Richardson said of playing in Kansas City. "More so for the Minnesota Vikings, not just Tony Richardson. But I looked at the opportunity to come back, had a lot of good memories here and still have a lot of love for these fans out here."

Last year, Richardson's right forearm was injured. "I will be back next week without a doubt," he said.

Taylor was ruled out before the game. "I warmed up earlier before the game and it didn't feel quite right," he said. "So I'll rest it for one more week."

The Vikings' other inactive players were third quarterback Tarvaris Jackson (groin injury), tight end Garrett Mills, tackle Chase Johnson, receiver Troy Williamson (hamstring injury) and defensive linemen Fred Evans and Erasmus James.

Etc.

• Artis Hicks started at right guard, but Anthony Herrera also played the position. "We were going to get Herrera in the mix there and factor him in the game," Childress said.

• Defensive tackle Spencer Johnson had his second sack in two games, doubling his career total heading into the season. His last sack before this season was in 2004.

• The game-time temperature was 83 degrees with 52 percent humidity, making it hot but far from unbearable on the natural grass surface in Kansas City. "It was hot, but it was hot for them, too," Greenway said. "I think it may have been an advantage for us that we played in a dome the last couple of weeks because that kind of gets you used to the heat. I don't think it really affected us."

•Safety Tank Williams, linebacker E.J. Henderson and left tackle Bryant McKinnie served as the Vikings' captains.

• Punter Chris Kluwe had a career-long 70-yard punt in the first quarter thanks in part to the wind. Longwell put his first kickoff of the game 5 yards into the end zone.

JUDD ZULGAD, MARK CRAIG AND JIM SOUHAN