NFL
By Steve Rogers
The Minnesota Vikings got a blueprint on how to beat the San Fransico 49ers on Monday night. Last week we saw the Cleveland Browns do the seemingly impossible and upset the NFC’s best team the San Fransico 49ers. How did they do it? Well, for starters, they had a balanced offensive attack Jerome Ford ran for 84 yards and P.J. Walker went from practice squad quarterback to starting QB and outperformed 49ers QB Brock Purdy. Walker threw for 192 yards compared to Purdy’s 125. The Browns managed to outgain the 49er’s highly talented and incredibly explosive offense 334 yards to 215 for the 49ers. The real reason those numbers turned out that way was due to a dominant defensive performance from the Browns. They are led by their Star defensive end Miles Garrett. The Browns currently have the league’s best defense. The Browns are top five in just about every statistical category on defense.
Can the Minnesota Vikings beat the San Fransico 49ers? Sure, most of you are thinking “Yeah right!”. It’s easy to be quick to say no looking at how dominant the 49ers have looked thus far. They have one of the best defenses in the league. They also have one of the best core groups of unique skill-position weapons. Swiss Army Knife does it all runningback Christian McCaffrey is the first example. He is working on putting up MVP numbers. McCaffrey needs to stay healthy and keep producing at a historic pace to fight his way into the quarterback-crowded MVP award conversation. Which is a question this week he is going to try to play through a slight oblique tear?
That doesn’t sound like fun. Now go play a football game where guys much bigger than you are hitting pulling twisting and crashing into and onto you. That sounds like a recipe for re or further injury. It should be worth watching to see how well he can play through this injury. Wide receiver Bandon Aiyuk has been the 49er’s number two wideout target over the last couple of seasons. However, this year he seems to be on a mission to be their number one. He leads the team with 454 yards receiving on 25 receptions. The 49ers number one wideout is, of course, Deebo Samuel. Unfortunately, Samuel will miss this game due to a shoulder injury. The 49ers aren’t out of weapons yet there’s still tight end George Kittle. Kittle is always one of the top five tight ends in the League. Second-year quarterback and first as starter Brock Purdy has emerged from irrelevancy as the final pick in last year’s draft to one of the top-performing starters. He is the best bargain at the quarterback position in the NFL.
So, how do the Vikings combat all that? By doing what they’ve been doing all year, minus the turnovers playing balanced complementary offense and defense. The Vikings have the third most passing yards per game. Led by veteran and captain quarterback Kirk Cousins who is again putting up top-ten passing numbers. The Vikings spent all last year playing and usually winning one-score games. This year they are continuing to play one-score games however, the Vikings are ending up on the losing side more often this year.
The Vikings are still without All-Pro wideout Justin Jefferson who is on IR for at least two more weeks. Rookie wideout Jordan Addison has been another great find at the top of the draft for the Vikings. One thing is very clear the Vikings know how to scout and identify great wide receivers. From Hall of Famers Chris Carter and Randy Moss to undrafted local kid turned icon, Adam Thielen, and Stefon Diggs. Now the Vikings have Jefferson and Addison for the foreseeable future. The Vikings have a pretty good tight end of their own in T.J. Hockenson. This is a battle of former University of Iowa tight ends as both he and Kittle are alumni. The Vikings and running back Alexander Mattison have started to find traction in the running game.
The defense that Brian Flores likes to run is very aggressive and blitz-heavy. That may not be the case this week he might go with less exotic looks and run a similar style that the Browns utilized to affect the 49ers offense. Veteran and defensive captain safety Harrison Smith is having a resurgence and looks fully rejuvenated flying around the field and making plays.
Smith is currently second on the Vikings with three sacks. Smith is the leader of this defense and is quarterbacking Flores’s defense on the field. The Vikings team leader in sacks is defensive end Danielle Hunter with 8. Which is also tied for the league lead. Not just a sack machine Hunter is making plays often in the backfield with 11 tackles for a loss. He is playing for his big payday next year and so far is making a case for a very big contract.
Now, when you factor in the 49ers’ injuries WR Samuel (out) shoulder, LT Trent Williams (out) ankle, and a less-than-100 % McCaffrey with a healthy hungry Vikings team fighting to stay relevant in the NFC along with ending their own home losing streak. This is the kind of game where the better team has to travel while banged up as the big favorite gets surprised by the underdog.
The Vikings can move the ball well enough to have some extended drives and eat some clock. The defense can keep the 49ers off balance just enough to stay close. Close games favor the Vikings. Not only will they beat the spread they will win with a walk-off field goal. The final score will be 27-26! Skol Vikings!
