49ers at Vikings

[VikingLord]

Good win. I think had Jones not fumbled there the Vikings would have punched it in and gone up by 20 and the game would have finished more lopsided but that was a tough turnover followed by an equally tough defensive series that allowed the 49ers to drive it down and pull within a score. Yet the Vikings got it together on both sides of the ball and finished it and that is a lot of credit to them.

A few items of note:

- Sam Darnold I thought made some really great plays and had some real head-scratchers. The throw to JJ was a beauty, and he had some nice and timely runs. He was also generally given time to throw despite the 49ers having one of the best, if not the best, defensive lines in the NFL. So kudos to him and to the OL for that. But, Darnold also had some almost inexplicable plays too. The INT was particularly bad. No pressure, clear line of sight. He's got to see that LB underneath. On the intentional grounding call, I mean, he hitched on the throw. He did a nice job escaping the pressure there, had his guy open, and then for whatever reason didn't attempt the throw. And there was another play where the pocket broke down, but Darnold appeared to have some green in front of him and could have picked up another first down with his feet. Instead, he cut back directly into Bosa(?) for a bad sack.

- Line penalties. Too many offsides on defense and false starts on offense. Not sure what was going on, but those are just bad penalties to take and I think unusual as I don't remember the Vikings having those problems last week on the road.

- I thought the defense played pretty well overall, with some key stops to keep the 49ers out of the endzone, but they also struggled a bit to consistently shut down the run and missed some tackles that allowed the 49ers to pick up extra yardage. They have the makings of a solid defensive unit, but the devil is in the details and the small plays that should be made but aren't. Get those things cleaned up and this is a top 15 defense this year.

- LOVE the play of Van Ginkel and Cashman. I can tell these guys are putting in the film work as both made some nice anticipation breaks on the throws they know Purdy and the 49ers love to attempt. Along those lines, Ivan Pace is really one of the more instinctive players I've watched in recent years. He is all over the field and makes some really nice reads. If I have one criticism of his play, his positioning doesn't always result in the stop. He whiffed on 2-3 tackles at the LOS that went on to be chunk pickups for the 49er runners. Got to make those plays against the better teams.

- Addison out. JJ hopefully won't be out for long if at all. Jones was having some issues as well. The team still performed well against a really good defense. That is a great sign. I was worried they'd bog down but they kept moving it.

Overall great game against a team that I didn't feel played bad at all. The 49ers were missed McCaffrey, sure, but more or less had everyone healthy and the Vikings traded punches with them all game. I never felt like the 49ers were able to settle in and dominate in any phase, and likewise I never felt like the Vikings were in trouble in any phase. If the 49ers represent the class of the NFC, the Vikings are in great shape. It might be time for the national analysts to sit and up take notice of this team.

[fiestavike]

Blake Cashman played great in the passing game. Getting underneath three passes to knock the ball away, one of which went for the INT.

I thought last year the Vikings fielded one of their best teams in recent memory. The wins weren't always there, and the QB play and injuries were a tough thing to overcome, but you could see the pieces coming together to actualy field a team capable of competing against the best. Now I think we are there.

One sneaky underrated part of that has been Rick Spielman, who drafted a lot of the guys who are making big impacts now. Meanwhile Kwesi has done a great job in Free Agency and deserves credit for not having bias against the previous GM's picks. I lot of guys would have moved on from them. That's probably an underrated part of the story. I doubt many GMs have that kind of humility to put the vision for the team totally above their own ego.

[Cliff]

The PTSD is real. As soon as that fumble happened I just *knew* the game was over. There it was. The momentum shift. Historically Vikings teams cannot handle that. Then their offense drove all the way down the field and I was even more convinced. They didn't let them take over though. They answered and the defense held up after that. Special teams had an outstanding play and it also seems like they're just a millisecond away from getting to the ball. They're not taking any kicks off.

Mason can't do everything CMC can do but the 49ers have done a great job adapting to his strength, which is being a human wrecking ball. That guy runs hard.

Darnold had a boneheaded INT but nobody is perfect, bad passes happen. He played well overall though. Can he keep it up? It's kind of exciting to find out. That bomb to Jefferson was great. I can't wait to see how he does when Addison and Hock come back.

The running game is effective and Ty Chandler especially has been really solid. Jones didn't have a great game. He got stuffed and his fumble could have been a game changer.

The defense played pretty well. Lots of sacks and pressures. Two big 4th down stops. Deebo had -10 yards rushing. They gave up some pretty big plays but they kept Aiyuk pretty quiet which was good.

I hope they can keep it up. A lot of people thought they might start the season with 5 straight losses so being 2-0 and the top of the division is a great surprise.

[psjordan]

[the D] gave up some pretty big plays but they kept Aiyuk pretty quiet which was good.

I thought about six SF competions were covered about as well as could be. Either Purdy was that accurate or they were awfully lucky. With that sample size I'd say Purdy was pretty darn accurate when he had time to throw. And we STILL overcame those plays - something this team has struggled with in the past.

[VikingLord]

[the D] gave up some pretty big plays but they kept Aiyuk pretty quiet which was good.

I thought about six SF competions were covered about as well as could be. Either Purdy was that accurate or they were awfully lucky. With that sample size I'd say Purdy was pretty darn accurate when he had time to throw. And we STILL overcame those plays - something this team has struggled with in the past.

I agree. I thought other than some of the zones or mixed coverages where 49er receivers were able to sit down in open space the coverage was very good, including on many of the completions you mentioned. Surprisingly so.

I think Flores does a really good job mixing pre-snap movement and looks. I felt like the 49ers were very predictable on offense. Granted, they are very good on offense and can succeed even if they do what most defenses expect them to do, but I thought the Vikings were very solid at every level. I'm very impressed by the linebacker play so far. Cashman, AVG and Pace all seem to have a real nose for the ball and are capable of making plays rushing the passer, defending the run and defending the pass. If this defense ends up as a top 15 or even top 10 overall defense this year that group is going to be a big reason why.

[makila]

This is out of an Athletic article regarding the defense. An exchange between Cashman and Flores. (I never know if I should share the whole articles, wall of words and all, heh)

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The other aspect lies in a moment Cashman was replaying alone as his teammates dispersed into the evening.

He had been asked about defensive coordinator Brian Flores, and his mind had wandered to a moment in a meeting room with Flores earlier this week. They were watching practice film, and Cashman explained his thought process on a play: how he scanned the offensive alignment, dissected the route concepts and was well into his pre-snap process. Flores paused the film and laughed.

“Don’t worry about it,” Flores said.

Cashman was confused. Don’t worry about what?

Flores replied: All of these alignments, all of these route concepts, all of this information.

“The quarterback won’t have time (to even find players on those concepts),” Flores told Cashman. “Just play visually.”

It was swagger, oozing from Flores the way it often does. He operates with a distinct amount of fearlessness that the players can feel. And when you pair that with the expertise of potential Hall of Famers Harrison Smith and Stephon Gilmore, a young and energetic menace like Ivan Pace Jr. and the smarts of Bynum and Josh Metellus — defenders who are more consumed with winning than any individual accumulation of statistics — this can happen.
-----

The personal additions on defense have been great fits.

I wonder if an NFL owner will break their wall and realistically consider Flores for a HC spot if the defense finishes as a top unit.

[fiestavike]

It would be interesting if Sam Darnold, who knows first hand how hard it can be when you are in the wrong situation, decided he wanted to play for the Vikings after this season and accepted a longterm deal at an absurdly low figure for an NFL QB, on condition that he have a no trade clause. It would put the Vikings in an interesting dilemma with regard to JJ going forward. Not likely to happen, but interesting fodder maybe.

Guess it be more likely he would consider doing that on a 1 or 2 year deal, but longterm deal he could still secure more than most of us will ever see, and potentially wind up going down as a Rich Gannon reclamation type of story.

[CharVike]

Anytime you can beat a top level team it's a great win. 2 red zone TOs not the best but getting 6 sacks is.