Week 2 - Following a dominant Week 1 Win at home on Monday Night Football over the New York Jets, Kyle Shanahan's (1-0) San Francisco 49ers would hit the road for the first time this season where the (1-0) Minnesota Vikings would play host in their home-opener. Another dominant win for San Francisco was already highly unlikely given the Niners' recent misfortunes on the road against the Vikings where they've lost seven straight entering Sunday, but even more so considering Minnesota's U.S. Bank Stadium has been a house of horrors for the 49ers since its inception in 2016. However, the Niners' struggles in the land of ten thousand lakes actually predates the Vikings' new digs, dating back to 1992 which was Joe Montana's last season as a member of the 49ers.
Keeping up with their historically poor luck in Minnesota, the 49ers fell into a 10-0 hole in the first half. After both teams opened the game by exchanging punts, the Niners' second drive on offense was stalled and resulted in another punt. However, this time punter Mitch Wishnowsky would have his punt blocked, giving the Vikings stellar field position. Although the San Francisco defense would hold the Minnesota offense to only a field goal, the Vikings would take an early lead they would not relinquish. San Francisco would reach the doorstep of the end zone on their ensuing possession, but were stopped at the 2-yard line after a 4th and goal attempt went awry following an incomplete pass from quarterback Brock Purdy to receiver Jauan Jennings. Matters would only get worse as the 49er defense had the Vikings pinned back near the goal line inside their own 5, but Minnesota QB Sam Darnold would connect on a 97-yard score to All-Pro receiver Justin Jefferson. The touchdown pass would be the longest ever against the 49ers in their storied history, topping a 96-yarder from Tobin Rote to Billy Grimes of the Green Bay Packers back on Dec. 10, 1950.
Trailing 10-0, the double-digit deficit nearly increased as the Vikings were threatening before an incredible interception by All-Pro linebacker Fred Warner. The takeaway would finally wake up the 49er offense after a pair of big plays by receiver Deebo Samuel and running back Jordan Mason helped setup a 7-yard touchdown grab by tight-end George Kittle. With a last-second field goal as time expired to end the second quarter, the Vikings went into the locker room with a 13-7 halftime lead. Both teams would come out sluggish to open the second half, highlighted by three straight punts before a Brock Purdy interception on a bobbled pass to fullback Kyle Juszczyk. The Vikings would capitalize one play later with a touchdown pass from Darnold to a wide-open Jalen Nailor. The game would continue to get ugly for San Francisco as Purdy fumbled the ball on their very next possession after losing grip of the ball on a pass attempt. Warner would bail his team out for a second time by coming up with a heads-up tackle near the goal-line to force a fumble on Vikings running back Aaron Jones, recovered in the end zone by the 49er defense.
Brock Purdy and company would cash in on the takeaway yet again, this time by orchestrating their best drive of the day, capped off with a 10-yard touchdown run by Mason who also topped 100-yards rushing on the day. Inching closer but still trailing 20-14, the 49ers were in need of a stop on defense but succumbed to another Vikings field goal. The Niners would get a late field goal of their own to pull within one score but were unable to recover the onside-kick attempt as both time and their luck expired. With the loss, 49ers QB Brock Purdy in now 0-2 in his career against Minnesota, and 14-0 against all other NFC opponents. Improving to 2-0 on the year, Minnesota is off to their best start to a season since 2016, evening the all-time series with San Francisco in head-to-head matchups: 25-wins, 25 losses, and 1 tie.
Although Minnesota was without receiver Jordan Addison who had his best game against the Niners a season ago during his rookie campaign while hauling in 7 receptions for 123 yards and 2 TDs in a Week 7 Monday Night win, they had no answer for Justin Jefferson who sat out in last season's match-up between the two teams with an injury. Jefferson finished a game-high 133 receiving yards and a touchdown on just 4 catches, fueled by the big 97-yarder. Deebo Samuel finished with 110 yards receiving and led both teams with 8 receptions. Niners quarterback Brock Purdy had a good game statistically with 319 yards passing and a touchdown, but his two turnovers proved to be costly in a close game. Vikings starter and former 49er Sam Darnold also had an impressive performance by throwing for 268 yards, 2 touchdowns and 1 interception. Despite the loss, 49ers tight-end George Kittle joined Rob Gronkowski and Travis Kelce with the third most yards ever by a tight-end in their first 100 games.
Noteworthy: Mitch Wishnowsky's first quarter blocked punt was already the third blocked punt on the season, after only 6 blocked punts in the entire NFL last season.
Week 3 Preview: The 49ers will hope to have much better luck on the road in Week 3 when they depart a stadium (Minnesota) they've never won in, for a stadium where they've never lost a regular season meeting -- L.A.'s SoFi Stadium. Coined the nickname "Levi's South" due to the large amount of 49er fans that flood the stadium anytime these two teams meet, Brock Purdy and company will look to get back in the win column in their first division matchup of the season when they take on the rival (0-2) Los Angeles Rams. Expected to be near the top of the division standings along with the 49ers, the slow 0-2 start for the Rams is among some of the biggest surprises thru the first two weeks of the 2024-25 NFL season. However, it doesn't help that the Rams are without two of their biggest playmakers on offense in receivers Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua. Without the superstar tandem to throw to, QB Matthew Stafford will have to make do with his other targets.
Unfortunately, the 49ers are also banged up and will be without a number of weapons of their own on offense, including running back Christian McCaffrey (Achilles), receiver Deebo Samuel (calf) and tight-end George Kittle (hamstring). Pro Bowl defensive-end Nick Bosa is also nursing an injury (rib) that has kept him limited in practice, but he's expected to be ready in time for gameday. Will the Rams drop to 0-3 on the season, or will both teams walk away from this one with a 1-2 record on the season?
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