49ers vs. Vikings Preview, Injury Report, Analysis, Keys to The Game, Prediction | NFL Week 2

[Music] this is the San Francisco 49ers report by chat sports Chase senior here with you no matter where you are how you're tuned in I appreciate you for making Today's show a part of your day and on the docket we are going to preview this week 2 game between 21 and0 teams in the San Francisco 49ers and the Minnesota Vikings a programming reminder be sure to join us on Sunday and for those of you who watch this show from the West Coast it's going to be an early one with this 1 pm Eastern start so we'll be going live an hour before kickoff with our pregame show so our coverage begins at 12:00 p.m. Eastern 9:00 a.m. Pacific and I'm hoping that we can beat our week one numbers because our first watch party of the regular season against the New York Jets 229,000 views it's the best place to experience a ners game day outside of at the actual game so make sure you hang out with us for our Niners Vikings watch party can't wait for this game it's sneakily one of the best NFL games on the schedule here for week two considering what transpired between Minnesota and San Francisco last year and how Brian Flores the defensive coordinator for Minnesota did such a terrific job with his game plan and the defensive attack against Kyle Shanahan and the ners kickoff set for 1 pm Eastern 10 a.m. Pacific as I noted and the 49ers coming off that really impressive win against the Jets I think all things considered San Francisco had the most impressive performance among 32 teams in week one their five-point favorites in this game and the total over under set at 46 even Minneapolis Blues let's also start there because the 49ers oddly enough have not won in Minnesota since 1992 it has been a place where they have not been able to get a victory and that is seven straight road losses to the Minnesota Vikings at their crib and what's interesting about this game is that yeah the 49ers haven't fared well against the Vikings when Minnesota has been home but the 49ers also coming off a short week having played on Monday Night Football so this is going to be an interesting matchup for so many reasons and it's an early kickoff for Francisco being that they are stationed in California a look back at the game from last year Niners lost that one 22- 17 that was their second consecutive loss in route two three consecutive defeats they lost to the Browns the week prior on that Jake Moody Miss lost to Minnesota then they came back home before the Buy and they lost to the Cincinnati Bengals so after that 5-0 start the ners dropped three in a row on the first drive after Mooney had picked off Kirk Cousins chrish mcaffrey fumbled at the Vikings 15 so that took points off the scoreboard for San Francisco and really from that moment Niners weren't able to find their Rhythm on the offensive side of the football there was a jake Moody missed field goal in the first half and then remember that Steve wils allout Blitz where there was no safety help and then Kirk Cousins was able to hit Jordan Addison on a near pick for Mooney Ward instead right before recess the Vikings able to score that 60-yard touchdown they got momentum once again in their favor pretty struggled against this Brian Flores Le defense he threw two interceptions one coming to end the game and Kurt Cousins played one of his best Prime Time games of his career 35 of 45 for 378 yards as the Vikings seemed to be turning it around and then the following week he popped this Achilles in that game San Francisco had no Debo Samuel and no Trent Williams and Brian Flores put on an absolute Master Class of course now as we sit here in this September of 2024 this is a different Vikings team especially at the quarterback spot Kirk Cousins signed with the Atlanta Falcons he got $100 million in guaranteed money from Atlanta and now former Niners backup quarterback Sam darnold is the starting quarterback for the Vikings after a season ending knee injury to JJ McCarthy and darnold got off to a really good start in week one for the Vikings against a horrible New York Giants team but nonetheless darnold was really good in that game very accurate very decisive he threw a couple of tight window darts 19 of 24 208 yards he completed nearly 80% of his passes yards per completion at 8.7 two touchdowns one pick and two of his touchdowns really good play designs from Kevin oconnell and Sam was certainly slinging it he was nearly Flawless and perfect to start the game in fact he started the game against New York 12 of 12 that's the second best start for a Vikings quarterback in franchise history and in that game he had a quarterback rating of really good against the blitz highest pass rating against the blitz among all NFL quarterbacks in week one Jaylen Herz 158.3 against Green Bay that tied him with Sam darnold perfect 158.3 ahead of Baker Mayfield Josh Allen and CJ stra and over the last couple of years it has become apparent that Kevin oconnell is one of the best offensive head coaches in the NFL great play caller great play designer and he's done a great job of maximizing his quarterbacks and he was thrust into a position last year after Kirk Cousins tour his Achilles where he had to play Nick Mullins and jiren Hall and Josh dos and for stretches those quarterbacks who have no business really being starters in this league perform pretty well and what did he do last week with Sam darnold Sam darnold looked to be the prospect that a lot of people thought he was going to become when he was drafted out of USC highing the first round by the New York Jets and OK connell's path offensive heavy he was the Browns quarterback's coach in 2015 he actually went to Cleveland right after Kyle Shanahan had left he worked with the Niners in 2016 a special projects coach with the ners then he goes to the Washington Redskins at the time quarterback's coach in 2017 he remains with Washington in 2018 the quarterback's coach and the pass game coordinator and then he became Washington's offensive coordinator in 2019 and then Shawn mcy hired him with the Los Angeles Rams where he was the OC in 2020 and 2021 then he became the Vikings head coach in 2022 with that track record and that resume once again this will be another good test for new Niners defensive coordinator Nick senson his first game calling plays as a defensive coordinator in this league was up against Aaron Rodgers and I thought last week he called a really good game after the game Fred Warner called it Flawless and now we'll get to see what Nick senson can do against one of the better offensive Minds in the NFL in Kevin oconnell and while the Vikings don't have Kurt Cousins at quarterback they have Sam darnold and JJ McCarthy is out for the year after that knee surgery this is still a solid team with good offensive weapons Aaron Jones Let Go by the Green Bay Packers the pack signing Josh Jacobs so Jones said you know what I'm going to stay in the NFC North I'm going to go to Minnesota and he looked spry in week one against New York Justin Jefferson maybe the best wide receiver in the National Football League Jordan Addison a very good number two who last year had more than a thousand yards but he's banged up we'll talk about him in a moment and then Jaylen Naylor he is a Speedster who can get vertical and take the top off of the defense not really a well well rounded or complete wide receiver but does add that speed Dimension to this Vikings offense and in speaking of Jordan Addison during the preseason he had another ankle sprain on a different ankle and then against New York he injured his other ankle so his status going into this game is in doubt and that could hurt this Minnesota offense for sure and then TJ hackinson is out for at least the first four weeks of the season after last year he tore his ACL and his MCL so Minnesota here pretty light on skill position talent but what do good offensive coaches do they find ways to scheme up explosive plays with the existing players on their roster so that's the Vikings injury report as for the ners injury report will continue to monitor the status of the reigning NFL offensive player of the year and Christian mcaffrey he said that he's approaching this week as if he's going to play I wrap up report said he's pretty much doubtful and the ners are going to be very cautious there are other reports that the ners are saving Christian mcaffrey from himself he of course loves ball he wants to play but you can't mess around with that Achilles if he can't go it'll be the Jordan Mason show Jawan Jennings had that hip drop tackle unfortunately against the New York Jets and will continue to monitor his status he does have a chance to play I highly doubt that youur gross Matos with that knee injury that he suffered in the preseason finale and D winners with that ankle injury I doubt that those latter two players are going to be able to play in this football game who you got ners Vikings one of the best games on the Slate this upcoming Sunday Type SF or MN I'll reveal my prediction coming up a little bit later here as we're just getting started with our Niners Vikings preview if you've missed the last two days of the 49ers report we are so stoked to bring on PX G as a brand new sponsor they have helped to elevate my golf game and they can elevate your golf game you have to go in for a club fitting it is an absolutely incredible experience they'll set you up in front of a golf simulator with one of their employees and they know so much about Golf and then the technology where they track your swing data your exit velocity the carry they'll look at your swing and then they'll be able to make changes to the Club face and the actual club and the grip and it will allow you to really hit the ground running if you want to improve your golf game so when it comes to my iron gam specifically it's always a work in progress when I heard how the new pxg Black Ops irons can dramatically improve your game I had to give them a try I booked a fitting at a pxg location brought my current irons I took the pxg iron challenge it was so cool I was blown away the new pxg Black Ops irons are game improvement missile launchers that feature X Core 2 technology and a dual cavity design that combines their high strength ultra thin maraging steel Club face to deliver Superior forgiveness absolutely explosive distance I couldn't believe the carry off the club face when I was swinging these new clubs at the driving range with the videos that we're showing you here and a feel that's softer than a baby bunny the new Black Ops irons are incredibly easy to hit they Max maximize your performance they make rounds of golf more fun and yeah they're really affordable only $149.99 a stick that is a great price for a great golf iron so take the pxg irons challenge it's a ton of fun and how about this deal right if your old irons deliver more distance or tighter dispersion that means accuracy than the pxg irons during your fitting you'll get a $100 Mastercard Rewards card so hurry this offer ends October 7th book your fitting today at a pxg location by going to pxg.com that's pxg.com and you can tell them that chase senior chat sports and the 49ers report sship you could set up your fitting today there are so many different locations all across America including a bunch in California and in the Bay Area 200 plus locations to visit there is an East Bay location in Dublin California there is one in Orange County in Huntington Beach California Stone Tree Golf Club in nevado California and hundreds more nationally we'll put all that information down in the comment section and attach to the pin comment of today's Niners report let's move forward with our preview here my keys to the game for the San Francisco 49ers to take down the Minnesota Vikings in week two to move that record to 2 and0 let's Dive Right In the current or the constant theme for the ners I should say in week one against the Jets they had to settle for a lot of field goals now they still blew up the scoreboard but if you finish with dve or if you finish drives with touchdowns and set of field goals in this game against Minnesota you're going to be well off because I do think Minnesota is somewhat limited on the offensive side of the football it was great that Jake Moody the kicker for the Niners One NFC special teams player of the week it's great that he probably helped a lot of you win your Fant games in week one six of six on his field goals two of two on his Pats two of two on kicks of 50 plus yards but if the ners can finish their drives with touchdowns instead of field goals they can win this game going away they're already heavy favorites according to the odds makers and the 49ers not being able to finish in the Red Zone do I look at it as a little bit of a concern maybe I mean the New York Jets have a really good defense yet the Niners still boat race them and then took their will with pounding the rock with Jordan Mason on the ground game but also they just got back Brandon auk they just got back Trent Williams and they're knocking and shaking off the rust and that's what happens in the first game of the season sometimes you have to shake off the cobwebs a little bit and I expect San Francisco to be better offensively situationally key to the game number two you have to stop The Perennial all proo wide receiver in Justin Jefferson who is an alien at the wide receiver spot I mean he can line up anywhere he can run any route he can go up and get it he can take the top off of the defense he can make you miss in the open field he is so Dynamic and there's a reason why he got paid and there's a reason why his production to start his NFL career is up there with some of the best wide receivers in the history of the National Football League and against the Giants in week one he lined up everywhere he was in the slot for 10 snaps 35.6 7% of his overall workload then he was out wide for 18 snaps 46.3% of his workload so this is going to be a good test for this Niner secondary and in week one against the Jets the Jets really feared charvarius Mooney Ward they didn't Target him but hopefully we see a little bit of Ward against Justin Jefferson two all Pros going up against one another Ward played 45 snaps on Monday night football against the Jets all 45 snaps came on the left side so he didn't really travel at all and Aaron Rogers didn't look toward charvarius W side for the most part here is Aaron rogers's throw chart and his spray chart as you can see a lot of his throws were to the left side he did throw that touchdown pass as evidenced by the blue there on that broken play to Alan Lazard that was to the right of the seam to the left of the defensive alignment but really for the most part Aaron Rodgers was living on that left side of the field I don't think Sam darnold's going to do that I don't think Kevin okell's going to do that I think he's going to have Justin Jefferson all over the place which is okay for San Francisco because they do have a really good secondary dador Lenor and Isaac yam on top of Mooney Ward fared well too Lenor was targeted 10 times yam targeted four times both of them together only gave up nine catches for 100 yards and both had two big pass breakups the Lenor one led to the Demetrius Flanigan fouls interception and then yadam had that big pass breakup on fourth down to give the offense back the football for San Francisco key to the game number three is the turnover battle and last year against Minnesota the Niners turned it over a lot Brock pie had two picks and then chrisan mcaffry had that fumble and this Minnesota defense was very well prepared led by Brian Flores going up against this Kyle Shanahan offensive attack and they really did a good job of honing in against the ground game for San Francisco and then they were very sound as far as their pass coverage went ran flues just does a good job of game planning against these Kyle Shanahan Leed offenses and when you speak specifically to the turnover battle the 49ers were 10 and4 last year when forcing one or more turnovers they forced two against the Jets so they're all already one and0 this year when they force one or more turnovers obviously and only that single game and when the ners play clean football they're so difficult to stop like they were against the Jets Jordan Mason stepping in for the reigning NFL offensive player of the year he runs for nearly a buck 50 the Niners offensive line was humming and they were moving downhill and then through the aerial attack Brock pretty was able to complete passes to six different players and turnovers undid San Francisco against the Vikings last year and you just can't go about it in that way if you're going to play sloppy and expect to have success against this Flores Le defense key to the game number four is the Niners offensive line against still a very solid Vikings front even though they lost denil hunter in NFL free agency this Niners offensive line going into the year a question mark against the Jets completely dominant was that a mirage or is it a sign of things to come the Niners posted a 96.1 pass block win rate third best in the NFL in week one Trent Williams Aaron Banks and Spencer berford were perfect as far as their pass block win right Trent Williams didn't give up a pressure and 94 of Jordan Mason's 147 rushing yards were before contact they did a great job of opening up holes in the ground game as well and speaking of Jordan Mason if mcaffrey can't go r JP Mason the dude is special I've been saying it over the last couple of years the real ones know that finally the nation and the casuals were able to see that against the Jets on Monday night 28 carries 147 yards 5.3 yards per carry along a 24 and a touchdown he runs with a heavy hat he is brutally physical and against a physical Vikings defense I think that Jordan Mason can be an answer to have success against a run defense under flues that is fared pretty well so running the ball in that manner for San Francisco it's big boy football what do the Vikings like to do defensively play physical downhill big boy football so this is really a matchup and a meeting of two teams who Thrive and enjoy playing physical football and taking your will in that category and the Vikings are going to stack the box they're going to get creative with their coverages they're going to send blitzes from time to time and it's really a great offense against defense type of matchup here in week two my prediction I know the Niners have not beat the Minnesota Vikings in Minneapolis since 1992 that is seven straight losses for San Francisco on the road against the Vikings at their place but with how dominant they were against the Jets and the room for San Francisco to grow and if they don't settle for field goals as Jake Moody was six of six last week and they finish those drives instead with touchdowns and they play a clean brand of football I just think that San Francisco is too good of a team they're far too talented to lose this game I think they end that drought of not being able to win in Minnesota and the ners beat the Vikings 26-20 Sam darnold throws an interception the Niners obviously know him well because he was this team's backup quarterback last year and the ners pushed that record to 2 and0 [Music]