Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
Watch: 49ers S George Odum was given a gift by Vikings QB Kellen Mond.
Picked off by Odum! ❌ @GeorgeOdum
📺 #SFvsMIN on KPIX pic.twitter.com/BHiHHatNVt
— San Francisco 49ers (@49ers) August 20, 2022
The 49ers defense got off to a good start in their second preseason game. Samuel Womack flew in on a cornerback blitz and forced Vikings quarterback Kellen Mond to float a throw toward the sideline. 49ers safety George Odum was standing in the perfect spot to snag the team’s fourth interception of the preseason.
The San Francisco 49ers will meet the Minnesota Vikings in Week 2 of the NFL Preseason on Saturday night at U.S. Bank Stadium.
The San Francisco 49ers will meet the Minnesota Vikings in Week 2 of the NFL Preseason on Saturday night at U.S. Bank Stadium.
The 49ers are coming off a 28-21 win over the Packers in week one of the NFL preseason as they look for their second win, this time on the road. As for the Vikings, they played well last week but didn’t have enough in the tank to beat the Raiders as they will look to bounce back this week at home.
This will be a great day of NFL Preseason football, here is everything you need to know to watch and stream the game this evening.
NFL odds courtesy of Tipico Sportsbook. Odds were last updated Saturday at 12:00 p.m. ET.
San Francisco 49ers vs. Minnesota Vikings (-4.5)
Over/Under: 38.5
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There are 27 49ers not suiting up tonight vs. the Vikings. Here’s the list:
The 49ers are playing it very safe in their second preseason contest vs. the Minnesota Vikings on Saturday evening. With another game in Houston just five days away, San Francisco has elected to rest virtually all of their presumed starters.
Eric Branch of the San Francisco Chronicle posted a list of the players not playing for the 49ers. Here it is:
QB Trey Lance
QB Jimmy Garoppolo
RB Elijah Mitchell (Hamstring)
RB Jeff Wilson Jr.
FB Kyle Juszczyk
WR Brandon Aiyuk
WR Deebo Samuel
TE George Kittle
TE Charlie Woerner
OL Daniel Brunskill (Hamstring)
OL Jake Brendel
OL Mike McGlinchey
OL Trent Williams
OL Jaylon Moore (Lower leg)
OL Colton McKivitz
DL Samson Ebukam
DL Nick Bosa
DL Arik Armstead
LB Azeez Al-Shaair
LB Fred Warner
LB Dre Greenlaw
LB Curtis Robinson (Groin)
CB Emmanuel Moseley
CB Charvarius Ward (Hamstring)
FS Jimmie Ward (Hamstring)
CB Dontae Johnson (Ribs)
SS Talanoa Hufanga
Offensive linemen Aaron Banks and Spencer Burford, the presumed starts at right and left guard, respectively, will both suit up. They’ve both hand some struggles in training camp and could use the reps since neither have played in a regular season NFL game.
Another interesting note on the offensive line is that Jake Brendel isn’t playing. With Brunskill nursing a hamstring injury, Brendel is now the likely starter at center. The 49ers don’t have a reliable third option so keeping him out of harm’s way in the second preseason contest makes sense.
The other presumed starter suiting up is nickel cornerback Samuel Womack. Head coach Kyle Shanahan intimated there was still a competition going on there, but Womack, a rookie fifth-round pick, is the frontrunner. Another strong game from him could seal the deal at the all-important slot CB spot.
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49ers fans should hope Trey Lance doesn’t play in Week 2 of the preseason.
49ers fans may be eager to see Trey Lance on the field, but their hope for Week 2 of the preseason should be that he spends the game in street clothes. Any other outcome means something went wrong Thursday in their joint practice with the Minnesota Vikings.
Head coach Kyle Shanahan before the preseason began indicated Lance would only play the first and third preseason games, although that plan wasn’t necessarily set in stone. After Wednesday’s practice it sounds like it would take a disastrous Thursday session to have the second-year QB suiting up Saturday.
“Right now, I’m not expecting to, but we’re day-to-day with that, we’ll see how practice goes tomorrow,” Shanahan said after Wednesday’s practice. “And there’s a chance he will, but that was the original plan.”
Shanahan has consistently iterated that he values the joint practices more than the preseason games. He also said Lance had a good first outing vs. the Vikings’ defense.
“Trey’s done a good job,” Shanahan said. “I thought he had a good day today and we’re in the middle of camp, so you have some good, some bad, but he’s getting better throughout the whole process.”
A good Wednesday means he’d probably have to have a pretty abysmal Thursday outing to get into Saturday’s game.
If he’s not playing Saturday it means he put together good enough consecutive days against another team to make Shanahan confident that he doesn’t need the additional reps.
It’s also a sign of Lance’s development. Shanahan has been adamant that Lance just needs reps to continue getting better, but he’s reached a point where the head coach would be comfortable sitting him instead of getting him a handful of additional game snaps.
The 49ers would love for Lance to not play Saturday, and while it may be exciting to see No. 5 on the field, a much more positive sign for San Francisco would be for Lance to not be up for the second preseason contest.
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From the outside looking in, to the driver’s seat. The #49ers are suddenly prominent figures in the NFC playoff picture.
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The 49ers took down the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday at Levi’s Stadium and launched themselves to No. 6 in the NFC playoff picture after entering Week 12 on the outside looking in.
A Saints loss on Thanksgiving pushed San Francisco up from No. 8 to No. 7, and the 49ers taking care of business against the Vikings allowed them to climb to the sixth spot.
Virtually everything that could’ve gone right for the 49ers did in Week 12 and now San Francisco is only one back of the Los Angeles Rams in the updated NFC playoff picture:
1. Cardinals (9-2)
2. Packers (9-3)
3. Buccaneers (8-3)
4. Cowboys (7-4)
5. Rams (7-4)
6. 49ers (6-5)
7. Washington (5-6)
8. Vikings (5-6)
9. Falcons (5-6)
10. Saints (5-6)
The good news for the 49ers is they hold a tiebreaker over the Vikings because of Sunday’s win, and they’ll face the Falcons in Week 14 with a chance to secure a tiebreaker there as well. They also hold one over the 5-7 Eagles who were beaten by the Giants in Week 12.
After a 3-5 start the 49ers have put themselves in a position to control their own destiny and make a real run in the postseason. If they keep running the ball effectively and generating takeaways on defense, it’s hard to see them falling below the No. 6 spot.
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The #49ers will have to wait on MRIs for updates on WR Deebo Samuel and LB Fred Warner.
The 49ers beat the Vikings on Sunday, but saw two key players leave the game because of injury. Wide receiver Deebo Samuel and linebacker Fred Warner both exited Sunday’s game early without returning, but head coach Kyle Shanahan didn’t have an update immediately after the game. Both players will require MRIs.
Samuel went down after a carry in the third quarter. It looked like he slipped down right as he was getting hit, then stayed on the ground for a few minutes while being attended to by trainers. Eventually he walked off the field under his own power and walked slowly to the medical tent for evaluation. Shanahan couldn’t venture a guess at the severity of the injury in his post-game press conference.
“We have no idea what it’s going to be like,” Shanahan said. “I don’t think it’s as bad as you worry. We’re hoping it’s a low strain. He feels that it might be, he felt it, which that’s what happened to Deebo on the first play of the game versus Washington last year … That’s why I knew right away on the first step of that, that something was there, but by the time that he got to the sidelines, you feel like you saved a real bad injury.”
There was no additional update on Warner he left in the third quarter with a hamstring issue. Warner spent the duration of the game on the sideline with a helmet on and was never officially ruled out.
Shanahan will likely have updates Monday afternoon when he speaks to reporters.
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Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer had some complaints about the #49ers holding, and George Kittle had a response.
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Who doesn’t love some good post-game media sniping between two teams that just played a football game against one another? A comment by Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer after the game indicated the 49ers’ successful day on the ground came as a result of some lenient officiating. That comment prompted a response from 49ers tight end George Kittle.
One of the keys to the 49ers’ success on the ground was wide receiver Deebo Samuel’s effectiveness as a runner. He carried six times for 66 yards and two touchdowns. As a team San Francisco racked up 208 rushing yards and three scores on 39 carries. Zimmer in his post-game press conference was asked about those runs by Samuel and instead of crediting his opponent, blamed the officiating.
“The other ones were the fact these guys hold all the time, so they are grabbing us around the waist, grabbing our backs, and you know officials, they don’t want to call it every play. Until they start calling it every play, they’re not going to stop doing it.”
The 49ers and Vikings were both flagged five times. Minnesota drew 38 penalty yards compared to 57 for San Francisco.
One player who took exception to Zimmer’s post-game comment was 49ers tight end George Kittle. Here’s his response via ESPN’s Nick Wagoner:
“I think if you’re running your feet and hands inside, just because a guy spins and flails his arms, it’s not holding … If you’re gonna sit on the sideline and complain about holding the whole time, tell your guys to make better plays.”
It’s understandable why Zimmer might be frustrated. In his last two games against the 49ers, both losses, Zimmer’s defense has allowed 394 rushing yards and five touchdowns on 86 carries.
Whatever San Francisco is doing on the ground it’s been working this season. They’ve gone 42, 42 and 39 carries in each of their last three games and appear to have re-established themselves as one of the NFL’s premier rushing attacks. Meanwhile, the Vikings’ defense was 27th in Football Outsiders’ run defense DVOA entering Sunday, and is allowing 4.8 yards per carry – second-worst in the NFL.
If the 49ers did get away with some holding, it’s because the officials gave a good running team the benefit of the doubt against arguably the worst run defense in the NFL.
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Everything we know from the #49ers’ third-straight win over the Vikings.
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The 49ers and Vikings squared off Sunday at Levi’s Stadium in a matchup with big-time playoff implications in the NFC. San Francisco came away victorious with its third consecutive win.
Here’s everything we know immediately following the victory:
The #49ers won a shootout over the Minnesota Vikings. Our observations from each quarter of San Francisco’s third-consecutive victory.
Can the 49ers win a shootout? That was the question going into Sunday’s game against the Vikings and they answered in the affirmative with a 34-26 victory. It was their third win in a row and puts them in the No. 6 seed in the NFC playoff picture.
#49ers LB Fred Warner is questionable to return with a hamstring injury.
The 49ers injury woes in the second level continued in the second half Sunday vs. the Vikings. After losing linebacker Dre Greenlaw to a groin injury, linebacker Fred Warner was announced as questionable to return with a hamstring injury.
Warner has been an iron man for the 49ers so far in his career. He hasn’t missed a game and it’s been rare that he’s come off the field. Azeez Al-Shaair is the only healthy starting LB for San Francisco. Al-Shaair took over as the Mike linebacker with Marcell Harris entering at Will.
