San Francisco 49ers struggle and lose their second straight game.
Minnesota — After crushing the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday Night Football, the San Francisco 49ers were unbeaten and the talk of the league less than two weeks ago.
San Francisco suffered their second straight defeat as a result, something they hadn’t done since this day a year prior, and it was clear that everything had changed after a strong 5–0 start.
The NFL will constantly humble you, defensive end Nick Bosa said. “And starting 5–0 gives you a sense of assurance that we are who we need to be, but the NFL does that,” the player added. We have to be ready because this week we’re going to play another talented squad with good players and good systems.
The Niners need to find a way to win games like Monday’s and last week’s defeat to the Cleveland Browns if they want to turn things around. The Niners failed to play the complimentary football they did in the first five weeks of both games, but they still had chances to win in the last seconds.
The Niners’ frustration stems from the fact that they lost both occasions despite controlling the game from the beginning, winning the first five games by an average margin of 19.8 points, but struggling when the going gets tough.
Linebacker Fred Warner was eager to point out that teams that make significant postseason progress are capable of winning any game they play.
“I think the thing right now is we’ve got to find ways to win the grimy games, the ones where it’s not looking great and find a way,” said Warner. “Obviously, we can win, 30–10, but who are we and what are we going to do when we’re down and we’ve got to come back and win a game?”
The Niners had numerous chances Monday night to improve their chances of securing their sixth victory. The Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins blasted them for 378 yards and two scores while going unhurt and only seeing pressure on 25% of his 45 dropbacks. They could have made things more difficult for Cousins.
When it was over, quarterback Brock Purdy took responsibility for a pair of late-game interceptions while San Francisco was driving for the potentially decisive score. Running back Christian McCaffrey regretted his first-quarter fumble deep in Minnesota territory, kicker Jake Moody wished he could have back the 40-yard field goal he missed, and all three players expressed regret for their respective plays.
But the strangest play of the evening may have caused the 49ers the greatest pain. With 16 seconds left and a third-and-6 situation at their 40, the Vikings were prepared to take a pass underneath that may assist set up a field goal.
Instead, Steve Wilks, the defensive coordinator for the Niners, activated a full-fledged blitz and sent seven defenders at Cousins. Cousins noticed the pressure and checked into a deep pass for rookie wideout Jordan Addison, according to Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell.
Charvarius Ward of the Niners got in front of the ball as it was flying toward Addison for what appeared to be his second interception of the evening. However, Addison wrenched it away from him and then sprinted into the end zone for a 60-yard touchdown without any assistance from Ward, giving Minnesota a 16–7 lead.
O’Connell remarked, “That was a game-changing play.”
Wilks’ call was likewise remarkable in some way. It was the first seven-man pass rush in enemy territory in the last thirty seconds of a half since Week 11 of 2020, according to NFL Next Gen Stats. When asked following the game if he approved of the decision, Niners coach Kyle Shanahan responded that his staff will discuss it in the days to come.
We’ll talk about that throughout this week, Shanahan said. “Obviously, I did not like the result.”
The challenge will only get harder from here for a Niners team that started the season as a Super Bowl favorite and played like one for the first five weeks. They took a late-night flight from Minnesota to return home, where they will start getting ready for a Cincinnati Bengals squad that is coming off of its bye week and two straight victories.
The Niners will next have a bye before traveling to Jacksonville to take on the Jaguars, followed by contests with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Seattle Seahawks, Philadelphia Eagles, and Seattle Seahawks once more. The Niners’ schedule’s toughest stretch is, at least theoretically, this one, and how seriously they should be viewed as contenders will be much influenced by it.
