The 49ers powered through a depleted Vikings run defense to finish with 208 rushing yards on Sunday. Deebo Samuel, a wide receiver, tallied 66 rushing yards and two touchdowns.
It’s safe to say Mike Zimmer was not pleased about it. Asked about Samuel’s performance, Zimmer took note of the officiating in the game:
“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.”
49ers TE George Kittle had some thoughts on Zimmer’s comments. Here’s his response via ESPN’s Nick Wagoner (H/T our friends at Niners Wire).
“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.”
I think the actual issue might have been that Minnesota had all of its starting defensive linemen out, while San Francisco had an elite running game in Week 12. The Vikings have been a team on the unfair side of a refereeing decision — or lack thereof — plenty of times this year. I’m not sure Samuel and the other 49ers ball carriers running free mostly had to do with the officiating, though.