Tag: 49ers vs Vikings

‘Real chance’ 49ers RB Christian McCaffrey misses Week 2 vs. Vikings

Christian McCaffrey may also miss the 49ers’ Week 2 game vs. the Vikings per Adam Schefter.

The San Francisco 49ers will have to open their season against the New York Jets without star running back Christian McCaffrey.

They listed him among their inactives for the season opener while he deals with calf and Achilles injuries. However, Monday’s game may not be the only one he misses.

ESPN’s Adam Schefter on the Monday Night Football pregame show reported the decision to bench McCaffrey came down Monday when his calf was tight after getting to the team facility for treatment. He also said the RB may miss Week 2 in Minnesota as well.

“Not only is Christian McCaffrey out tonight,” Schefter said, “but there’s a real chance he’s not gonna play on Sunday either. They play on the road at Minnesota on turf on a shorter week. So, he’s inactive tonight and it looks like there’s a real strong possibility McCaffrey will not play Sunday against the Vikings as well.”

Schefter earlier Monday on the ‘Pat McAfee Show’ reported the injuries McCaffrey is dealing with cropped up in Week 17 last season. They also forced him to miss virtually all of training camp and the preseason.

The 49ers have a quick turnaround, playing Sunday in Minnesota with a 10:00am Pacific Time kickoff. With Minnesota’s field turf and the 49ers’ history of losing key players on that surface, they’d be wise to remain cautious with the focal point of their offense.

Jordan Mason will start in McCaffrey’s stead against the Jets, and he figures to continue having a heavy workload in Week 2 if McCaffrey is still sidelined.

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Kyle Shanahan’s explanation of Steve Wilks’ zero blitz at end of 1st half vs. Vikings is not good

The #49ers coaching staff made a mistake vs. the Vikings that can’t happen again.

An ill-timed zero blitz by defensive coordinator Steve Wilks may have been what ultimately doomed the 49ers in their 22-17 Week 7 loss to the Vikings. The blitz left cornerback Charvarius Ward on an island with wide receiver Jordan Addison, which allowed the receiver to go for a 60-yard touchdown after wrestling the ball away from the CB. It turned a 10-7 Vikings lead just before halftime into a 16-7 lead and swung momentum back toward the home team.

Head coach Kyle Shanahan after the game said he and Wilks would discuss the play call during the week. In his press conference Wednesday Shanahan was able to elaborate more on what happened on that play.

“Yeah he knows, you guys I think talk to him tomorrow, he knows he messed up on that call,” Shanahan said. “I have no problem with zero blitzes, especially when people need a lot of yards. If you need to get 20 yards to kick a field goal, I have no problem with a zero blitz. But I do when there’s 16 seconds left. That’s where he lost track. There was no necessary need for that just because of the time. I have no problem with that play call, but when it’s that time you can’t do that. That’s not an option.”

It’s pretty rare that Shanahan so strongly opposes a member of his coaching staff in a press conference.

While the play wasn’t the only thing that went wrong for the 49ers, the bigger issue at hand is that Wilks apparently lost track of the time.

Minnesota had no timeouts and 16 seconds left on a third-and-6 at their own 40 in a 10-7 game. All the 49ers likely had to do was tackle whoever had the ball in bounds and they would’ve entered the half down by three.

That Wilks didn’t know how much time was on the clock is a pretty massive problem that needs to be corrected immediately. It’s unclear whether that’s something the coach keeps track of or one of the numerous assistants in the booth with him, but regardless there has to be some kind of change that ensures that never happens again.

A bad play call is going to happen, but coaches losing track of the game clock when making their play calls is not a mistake that can be repeated.

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Jaylon Moore fills in admirably for LT Trent Williams

Trent Williams was out for the #49ers, but Jaylon Moore stepped up nicely.

There was a potential disaster brewing for the 49ers when they rolled out Jaylon Moore to start at left tackle in place of the injured Trent Williams on Monday night in Minnesota. Not only did Moore avoid disaster in his fourth-career start at left tackle, he was perhaps San Francisco’s best offensive lineman.

Moore received a strong 73.1 run blocking grade from Pro Football Focus and allowed only one pressure and one hurry in 33 pass blocking snaps against a Vikings defense that blitzed on 21 of quarterback Brock Purdy’s 33 dropbacks.

The 49ers didn’t run behind Moore much, but running back Christian McCaffrey carried twice to his side for six yards and one touchdown.

Even during the game it was evident that Moore wasn’t a problem on the 49ers’ offensive line. His performance makes it worth wondering if he’s one of San Francisco’s five best offensive linemen, especially since right tackle Colton McKivitz allowed a team-high six pressures, five hurries and one sack while also struggling as a run blocker.

It’s unclear what Williams’ timeline for a return is. He injured his ankle in Week 6 and was ruled out for Monday night’s game. If he’s able to come back in Week 8 it wouldn’t be a huge surprise to see the 49ers try fitting Moore into their offensive line given how well he acquitted himself Monday night.

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49ers RB Christian McCaffrey plays every snap vs. Vikings

Not only did Christian McCaffrey play Monday night. He played every offensive snap:

It’s hard to believe based on Monday night’s game vs. the Vikings that 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey was even a little bit banged up.

McCaffrey suffered an oblique injury in San Francisco’s Week 6 loss to the Browns and was listed as questionable on the Week 7 injury report after only practicing one day during the week leading up to the game. The ailment didn’t impact his role at all in Minnesota.

The 49ers played 53 offensive snaps Monday night and McCaffrey was on the field for all 53 of them. He had 18 touches in the game, including 15 of the club’s 22 rushing attempts.

Running back Elijah Mitchell played just four snaps and took one carry. Jordan Mason’s work was limited to 11 special teams snaps.

Perhaps McCaffrey’s injury isn’t bad. He looked mostly normal despite struggling to find running room behind shoddy run blocking from San Francisco’s offensive line.

Perhaps the 49ers don’t believe their offense can function without the star running back so they’re going to roll him out regardless of his injury status.

That he played a full complement of snaps is a good sign for his status in Week 8 against the Bengals though, and then San Francisco gets a week off after that where McCaffrey will get additional time to rest his ailing oblique.

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8 takeaways from a bad Monday night loss for 49ers

7 takeaways from a #49ers mess in Minnesota:

It’s been a long time since the 49ers have been staring two consecutive losses in the face, but that’s where they stand after a 22-17 defeat to the Minnesota Vikings at US Bank Stadium on Monday night.

San Francisco fell behind 10-0 and tried hard to climb back into it, but could never get over the hump to complete the comeback.

Here are some quick takeaways in the immediate aftermath of a mess in Minnesota:

4 most disappointing aspects of 49ers 22-17 loss to Vikings

The 4 most disappointing parts of the #49ers Week 7 loss:

There wasn’t much that went right for the 49ers in their Week 7 defeat at the hands of the Minnesota Vikings. The 22-17 final was a mess from the jump as the Vikings led wire-to-wire to give San Francisco its second consecutive loss.

Pinpointing one bad thing isn’t particularly easy though, so we picked out the four most disappointing parts of a second uninspiring loss in a row for the 49ers:

Here’s what Kyle Shanahan said about Steve Wilks blitz call that led to long Vikings TD

Here’s what Kyle Shanahan said about Steve Wilks’ fateful blitz call that led to a Vikings TD late in the first half Monday night:

The 49ers looked like they were going into the half against the Vikings trailing by one score and with momentum on their side. Minnesota with 16 seconds left in the second quarter had the ball on their own 40 and no timeouts after San Francisco had cut their lead to 10-7.

All the 49ers defense had to do was not give up a big play. Defensive coordinator Steve Wilks decided to dial up some pressure and bring seven pass rushers on the third-and-6 play. The result was disastrous. Cornerback Charvarius Ward whiffed an interception which led to a 60-yard touchdown for Vikings wide receiver Jordan Addison that gave the home team momentum and a 16-7 lead.

According to ESPN Next Gen Stats it was the first time a team sent seven pass rushers in the final 30 seconds of a half and the ball in opponent territory since Week 11 of the 2020 season.

After the game head coach Kyle Shanahan didn’t sound thrilled with the call.

“That’s stuff we’ll discuss throughout this week,” Shanahan said. “Obviously I did not like the result.”

There’s tape to watch and conversations to be had between coaches, but it’s hard to imagine there’ll be much justification for the call from Wilks. The one thing that can’t happen in that scenario is a long completion and the defensive coordinator left his cornerback on an island and susceptible to a long completion.

Letting Cousins sit back and have his choice of underneath throws would’ve been a much more favorable process than the one Wilks’ hyper-aggressive blitz rendered.

Ultimately if Ward comes down with the interception the play gets viewed much differently, but that play was a microcosm of Monday’s loss. The Vikings were just better in a big spot. They thrived on third down in part because San Francisco’s pass rush couldn’t get home, and Wilks felt the need to generate additional pressure on that play.

Shanahan and Wilks will need to get on the same page quickly. They have a quick turnaround to Sunday where they’ll face a high-powered Bengals offense that’s coming off its bye week.

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NFL Twitter reacts to Brock Purdy’s 2 INT performance in upset loss to Vikings

After Brock Purdy threw two interceptions against the Vikings in the 49ers’ second consecutive loss, NFL Twitter exploded with reactions following Monday Night Football.

Despite starting the game by forcing a turnover on the opening drive of the game, the San Francisco 49ers couldn’t keep up with the Minnesota Vikings on Monday Night Football.

The 49ers’ defense had no answer for the duo of Kirk Cousins and Jordan Addison. Cousins lit the 49ers up for 378 yards and two touchdowns on 35-of-45 passing on Monday Night Football. Addison snagged seven passes for 123 yards and two touchdowns, including a back-breaking score with time ticking down at the end of the first half.

The 49ers defense struggled to pressure Cousins on Monday night, forcing zero sacks against the Vikings’ offensive line.

With chances to answer late on the other side of the field, Brock Purdy struggled. The 49ers young passer threw a pair of critical interceptions. in the fourth quarter, that ended any hope of stealing a win in Minnesota.

Purdy finished with 272 yards through the air on 21-of-30 passing with a touchdown and two key interceptions. After throwing zero interceptions through the first five games, the sophomore passer has three interceptions in back-to-back losses for the 49ers.

After Purdy’s second interception sealed the 49ers’ two-game losing streak, the NFL community on Twitter exploded with different reactions. Here’s a look at what fans and analysts were saying on social media on Monday night.

This post originally appeared on Niners Wire! Follow us on Facebook and Twitter! 

Notes and observations from terrible 49ers loss to Vikings

A second-consecutive ugly outing for the #49ers.

Things have gone from bad to worse for the 49ers. After a Week 6 loss to the Browns, they followed that up with another abysmal outing against the Vikings in Minnesota.

They looked outclassed from the jump and never got out of an early 10-0 hole. Minnesota exited with a XX-17 win.

Watch: 49ers strike back with another Christian McCaffrey touchdown vs. Vikings on MNF

The 49ers wasted no time striking back against the Vikings with another Christian McCaffrey touchdown.

Christian McCaffrey is inevitable.

After extending his historic streak of games with a touchdown to 16 straight, the San Francisco 49ers’ talented running back did his thing again with his team trailing.

Following a Minnesota Vikings field goal, the 49ers were chasing 12 points in the third period. The 49ers didn’t wait long to strike, scoring quickly on the back of McCaffrey.

Brock Purdy found the running back in the flat with blockers in front of him on a smooth play call from Kyle Shanahan against a Vikings blitz. McCaffrey scampered for 35 yards on his way to the endzone.

Via @49ers on Twitter:

https://x.com/49ers/status/1716638185302700116?s=20

This post originally appeared on Niners Wire! Follow us on Facebook and Twitter! 

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