VIKINGS SO BACK

VIKINGS 22

49ERS 17

At last!

After 6 weeks of mostly pain and suffering, the 2023 Vikings finally turned back the clock to better days on Monday night. They put together their best collective performance of the KOC era, and took down one of the best teams in the NFL, in a no fluke we beat their butts in primetime victory that could be a season changing moment.

What this win will mean in the long run will reveal itself in time, but this is a win worth savoring big time.

Once again the Vikings were playing a home game that by the look of the stands was practically a road game, as there was a ton of 49er red in the crowd. 

And these visitors got an early chance to cheer as somehow the Vikings had their 4th opening drive turnover of the year, when Charvarius Ward stole the ball away from Jordan Addison on a slant pass.

The 49ers quickly drove into the redzone, but Harrison Smith forced a fumble by Christian McCaffrey, which Dean Lowry pounced on before it could roll out of bounds.

With the momentum back, the Vikings put together an excellent 10 play, 89 yard drive against this top ranked defense. Kirk completed a clutch 3rd down to TJ Hockenson, hit him again for a big play, and finally threw a beautiful 20 yard TD pass to Addison.

We didn't force another turnover on the next 49ers series, but their kicker Jake Moody pushed a 40 yard field goal wide. 

The Vikings put together another nice drive, including a couple good Cam Akers runs and then a fantastic screen to Akers, which pulled them out of a 2nd and 24 and set them up 1st and goal inside the 5. But even on this good night the Vikings struggles in goal to go spots remained (we still don't have a rushing touchdown this season). Kirk just missed on another Addison TD and we had to settle for 3. 

The 49ers put together their one long sustained drive of the day after this. Brock Purdy hit a couple big passes. McCaffrey darted in for the score. And fortunately for the Vikings, he scored before we had to use up the last timeout of the half. 

We still only had a minute to go, and after a couple plays kept the clock moving and we had to burn that timeout, it didn't even look like a field goal try was going to happen. So hey, why not throw one downfield? Kirk did, targeting Addison, and again Ward was there, and again it looked like it was going to be picked off. And it basically was, but this time Addison was the one who took the ball away. And as Ward fell haplessly to the ground, Addison raced into the endzone for a 60 yard touchdown. It's the biggest play of the season for the Vikings, a massive momentum swing that they really needed to seize back control of the game.

Greg Joseph missed the PAT, but hey, we just got a miracle 6.

It was extra big cause the 49ers got the ball to start the 3rd, but here too things were different. We didn't just let them go score again. We even almost got another turnover on a Hunter strip sack, but replay showed Purdy was down. Still, the 49ers punted. 

And the Vikings drove again. Kirk hit a big 3rd down to Addison. Brandon Powell got in the mix on a big 27 yard play. And Addison drew a pass interference that set the Vikings up at the 1. 

But man we just can't get in gear in these spots. We tried the Ham Slam twice. First, Kirk got stuffed, and then there was a false start. Mattison maybe could have caught a TD but didn't, and we ended up just taking the 3 again. Disappointing since a TD there really would have put the Vikings in control. 

And then the defense had the one series in every game that they seem to take off. In just 3 plays the 49ers zipped 75 yards, the last a nearly untouched 35 yard screen to McCaffrey that cut the lead to 5.

The Vikings offense needed to respond, and did. Kirk hit Powell on a big 3rd down. A clear DPI on Addison was not called, but the Vikings were able to get close enough for Joseph to hit a 54 yard field goal (I couldn't watch) to get the lead back to 8.

The 49ers responded in kind, as a short drive set up Moody for a 55 yard field goal that of course he hit. Cause it wouldn't be a Vikings game if the opposing kicker doesn't hit a really long field goal at some point. 

We were into the 4th quarter now, and the Vikings for the first time all night punted. I thought it was a bad idea. 4th and 4 at the 49ers 42. Very makeable, too long for a field goal, and even a good punt doesn't flip field position much. 

It looked even worse when Ryan Wright's kick was a touchback, and it took just 2 plays for the 49ers to get back to where we punted from. 

Frisco was driving. When Purdy converted a 4th and 1 sneak near midfield, a game the Vikings controlled looked to be slipping away. 

But on the very next play, Purdy sailed a pass downfield and Camryn Bynum was there to pick it off. And he celebrated by doing The Worm. 

There was still work to be done. The Vikings needed a few first downs to seal the win. And it looked like they would, as they got a couple first downs and milked the clock, and made the 49ers burn their timeouts. KOC then faced a tricky decision after the 2 minute warning. 3rd and long, on the outskirts of field goal range. We opted to run, and Akers gained a few yards, burned off another 40 seconds or so, and put us in position for a 50 yard Greg Joseph field goal....which was missed. 

Here was where the heart really sank. Missing was bad enough, but a long miss means good field position. Purdy hit a couple throws, both in bounds, but it looked like they were going to at least have a chance at a couple endzone shots. 

But then Purdy fired downfield, basically a jump ball, and there was Bynum again to win the jump, and his 2nd pick of the quarter secured a huge victory.

Coming out of this game (and what a joy to exit US Bank Stadium HAPPY for the 1st time since last Christmas) the headline was Cousins. And it's deserved, cause this was an elite game in Kirk's career. 35 of 45 for 378 and 2 scores, against one of the best defenses in the NFL. And with no Justin Jefferson. 

And ZERO sacks. The Vikings played a physical team, and beat them in the trenches. This was Dalton Risner's 1st start in place of the injured Ezra Cleveland, but everyone was clearly good. 

And the defense was also excellent. We've seen recent Vikings teams killed on the ground by the 49ers, but it didn't happen here. Even with McCaffrey in there, they only ran for 65 on us. And this was without Marcus Davenport. Brian Flores has whipped this defense into something quite functional, with an opportunistic streak.

I really don't think this is just some one game oasis. The Vikings are a good team, with a lot of talent. They have just had so much go against them early in the season that put them in a hole. And they're still in a hole, but they're just 2 back of the Lions now and a half game out of the wild card. Much to the dismay of the Tank Nazis it should be full steam ahead for a playoff run. 

This game was the last one against a scary team until December. Until then the Vikings face a lot of extremely beatable teams, teams far less intimidating than the one they just beat. It's unrealistic to expect them to run the table for the next 6 weeks or so, but this is a team that has steadied the ship and is ascending. There are some fun times ahead.