San Francisco 49ers roll past Minnesota Vikings and advance to NFC Championship
By Doug Brown
San Francisco 49ers rolled past the Minnesota Vikings and advanced to another home game for the NFC title. They’ll be favored to make it to the Super Bowl.
The San Francisco 49ers seemingly easy victory over the Minnesota Vikings by the final score of 21-10 was the result of the team getting fully healthy at just the right time.
The defense looked great as they stopped the Vikings three-and-out on their first possession. The offense looked great as they took their first possession down the field for a touchdown.
They never looked back from there.
Minnesota temporarily tied the game on a pass over cornerback Ahkello Witherspoon later in the first quarter. Witherspoon was then replaced by Emmanuel Moseley at cornerback and the Vikings could not mount another touchdown drive the rest of the day.
The 49ers took the lead for good on their third time with the ball. Jimmy Garoppolo completed a 14-yard pass to Deebo Samuel on 3rd-and-12.
And the 49ers’ power running largely kept churning, culminating in a one-yard touchdown run by Tevin Coleman. Coleman, on the day, led the team in rushing with 22 carries for 102 yards and two touchdowns.
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The defense looked even more dominant than the offense. They were led by Nick Bosa who managed two of the teams’ six sacks. The entire defensive front was intact for the first time in over a month.
They limited Vikings running back, Davin Cook, to under 20 yards on the day. The Vikings’ total yard output was only 147 yards and they had two turnovers.
In the last half of the game, the 49ers gave up exactly zero points. An interception by Richard Sherman led to the 49ers’ next score. They ran the ball eight straight times for 44 yards, to create the put-away touchdown in the third quarter.
In all, Dee Ford, Solomon Thomas, Arik Armstead, DeForest Buckner, and Nick Bosa all had sacks. Fred Warner had the most tackles on the day with seven. Getting six sacks and holding a good rushing attack completely at bay, speaks loudly that the 49ers’ defense is all the way back.
The 49ers move on to the NFC Championship in a game they’ll surely be the favorites at home and hope to earn their tickets to the Super Bowl with a victory next week.
Next. 49ers: How Kyle Shanahan revitalized the offense with zone blocking. dark
They’ll be facing the Green Bay Packers or Seattle Seahawks and they’ve beaten both. The San Francisco 49ers’ confidence could not be higher.