Matthew Coller: Everything that went right and wrong in Vikings win over 49ers

The Vikings kept Sam Darnold clean and used their D-line rotation effectively.

Sep 15, 2024; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Vikings running back Ty Chandler (32) runs with the ball against the San Francisco 49ers in the second quarter at U.S. Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brad Rempel-Imagn Images / Brad Rempel-Imagn Images

The Minnesota Vikings are 2-0 after an impressive 23-17 win at US Bank Stadium over the San Francisco 49ers. Let’s dive into everything that went right and wrong in the win, what Kevin O’Connell had to say on Monday and what it means going forward…

What went right

Garrett Bradbury and the tackles vs. Bosa

After a tough week against Dexter Lawrence and the Giants, the Vikings’ veteran center bounced back strong versus the 49ers with an 84.4 PFF grade, the third highest in the NFL for Week 2 (prior to MNF). In fact, it was Bradbury’s best grade since Week 10 of 2020. Considering he was banged up a bit coming out of Week 1, it is a good sign for the offense that he put together a strong performance, especially on the ground where they were able to thrive for the second straight week.

Bosa is normally a left defensive end but he split his reps down the middle vs. the Vikings, taking 19 snaps over Brian O’Neill and 22 over Christian Darrisaw. It was not a fruitful day for Mr. Bosa against either player. O’Neill allowed one pressure all day and Darrisaw gave up three. Bosa did have one snap where he cleanly beat Darrisaw for a sack but it only turned out to be a short loss. For the day Bosa only had a 69.2 pass rush PFF grade. He has only been under 70 four times since the start of 2023.

Through two weeks O’Neill and Darrisaw have almost completely eliminated two of the best edge rushing teams in the league from causing havoc. Next up: Will Anderson and Danielle Hunter. It can’t be taken for granted how valuable these two tackles are to the offense.

Blake Cashman, coverage beast

Last season the former Gopher emerged as one of the best all-around linebackers in the NFL, ranking in the top 10 against the run and in coverage. Versus a 49ers offense that attacks the middle of the field, the coverage aspect of Cashman’s game was on display. He had three pass breakups and allowed just 28 yards on four throws into his coverage.

“Great athleticism, burst, speed, flies around, instinctive, good cover player, good tackler, and what we really expected coming in and he has confirmed is great communicator,” Kevin O’Connell said of Cashman, pointing out that he was excellent as the green dot defensive play caller.

Defensive depth

Brian Flores used 18 different players on defense against the 49ers and all of them played at least 10 snaps. The rotation among defensive tackles and outside linebackers seemed to keep the pass rushers fresh deep into the game and seven different DTs or OLBs registered a QB pressure. O’Connell talked at length about what the vastly-improved depth has meant to the success of the defense.

“Sometimes as a coach, you're like, I want these guys in there the entire game,” O’Connell said. “But that's just not viable when you've got the depth we have and when you can keep those snap counts a little bit lower, you get better versions of those players in the third and fourth quarter, which I think is critical. The depth at the outside backer position, we had 5D lining up for the interior yesterday for a reason and all those guys had an impact.”

Greenard keeps getting close

Through two games, the Vikings’ new edge rusher has just one sack but that doesn’t mean he hasn’t made an impact. Through two games Greenard is fourth in the NFL in QB pressures.

“When I turn on the tape, I see [Greenard],” O’Connell said. “It might not be showing up in sack production, but the pressure, I think he's leading us in quarterback pressures and doing a nice job setting the edge.”

When Purdy was under pressure the 49ers gained a total of 50 yards on 16 plays. When he was not under pressure, they picked up 247 yards on 29 plays.

Replacing Jordan Addison

Without their 2023 first-round receiver in the lineup, the Vikings’ passing game continued to hum along by casually hitting a 97-yard touchdown to Justin Jefferson but late in the game with Jefferson went down with a thigh injury, the No. 1 receiver on the field was Jalen Nailor. After a terrific training camp, the Vikings had confidence that he could be effective in the WR3 spot but bumping up into Jefferson’s role in Week 2 was a big ask. Nailor came through in spades with a huge catch to convert a third down on the Vikings’ 14-play drive that put the dagger in the 49ers.

“There was no surprise for Speedy's production to me,” O’Connell said. “I just was happy how fast he played. There were some even routes he didn't necessarily get targeted. You're seeing the separation. You're seeing him win versus man coverage. You're seeing him play multiple spots, especially in the second half where he was able to come to life, even in being moved around, filling in some plays where maybe Justin [Jefferson] would have been in those spots.”

Nailor finished with three catches for 54 yards and a touchdown. Trent Sherfield also caught a 17-yard pass and Brandon Powell had two big first downs on the same late-game drive.

Ty Chandler

The sample size of quality play is growing for the 26-year-old running back. After his 10-carry, 82-yard game, Chandler now has 580 career yards on 126 runs (4.6 yards per carry). Against the 49ers he had three rushes of 10-plus yards.

“I thought Ty Chandler was fantastic in the game, burst, explosive vision, a lot of things,” O’Connell said.

He was certainly helped by the offensive line. After two weeks, PFF has the Vikings graded as the third best run-blocking line in the NFL. Guard Blake Brandel had another terrific day as a run blocker and currently ranks as the third best run blocking guard in the NFL.

There is a long way to go for the O-line and RBs to sustain their play on the ground but the Vikings ranking seventh in Expected Points Added in the running game is far different place from where they have been the last two years.

The screen game

Another part of the offense that hasn’t been exceptional over O’Connell’s first two seasons in Minnesota has been the screen game. Versus the 49ers Darnold averaged 7.2 yards per screen pass and nearly had a touchdown on the play where Aaron Jones fumbled at the goal line.

“The screen game has been a big part of it for sure throughout the OTAs and training camp and it's come to life,” O’Connell said.

While Darnold has been very good in all areas so far, the more easy-button plays they can give him to Jones and Chandler out of the backfield, the fewer times they have to ask him to run the offense on the back of pure drop-back passes.

What went wrong

Justin Jefferson and Dallas Turner banged up

The Vikings are lucky that neither injury is thought to be serious but two key players will be spending this week in recovery mode.

“Justin [Jefferson] did come in today feeling pretty good which was a positive based upon the initial quad contusion that kind of happened on that run play,” O’Connell said. “We'll be day to day with Justin and we'll keep you guys posted throughout the week on his workload and what it looks like for Sunday but positive in the early returns there and then Dallas Turner you know with his knee.”

49ers did the thing against Ivan Pace Jr.

Kyle Shanahan’s offense is famous for putting linebackers in a blender and by the numbers that was the case for young Ivan Pace Jr. The aggressive LB was credited with allowing four receptions on five targets for 61 yards and one touchdown and given just a 27.6 PFF coverage grade. He also missed a tackle on a Purdy scramble, which played a role in his career low 30.6 grade. Pace Jr. still did end up with four run stops.

Turnovers

Through two games the Vikings have the third most turnovers in the NFL. Maybe it could be considered a good thing that they are 2-0 despite Darnold’s two INTs and the two fumbles lost but if they continue to give the ball away at this rate then it will eventually come back to haunt them.

So far Darnold only has a 1.7% turnover-worthy play rate, per PFF, which is ninth best in the NFL.

Aaron Jones on the ground

The Vikings needed Chandler to step up because they did not get the type of output from Jones that he produced in Week 1. He gained just 32 yards on nine carries and his longest rush was nine yards. Still, O’Connell liked some of the grinding runs that his veteran RB put together.

“I thought Aaron had some really good runs, some really tough runs on some short yardage plays, and then found some space on some other ones, had a bounce, some nice little bounce and a stiff arm, kind of on a tempo play one time,” O’Connell said.

Guards in pass pro (sorta?)

Combined between Ed Ingram and Blake Brandel they allowed just one QB pressure but they graded 50.3 and 29.7, respectively, in pass protection. That doesn’t seem to make sense but if both players were struggling to hold their blocks or had miscommunications on blitzes/stunts but their defenders didn’t cause Darnold to move off his spot then it would still result in a downgrade despite the lack of pressures.

Run defense

Through two games the Vikings are allowing 5.1 yards per carry and rank 20th in rushing yards allowed (before MNF). That is certainly a product of the 49ers being a terrific running team with just about the best backup RB you’ll ever run across in Jordan Mason. Still, it will be something to watch in the coming weeks as they face teams like Houston, Green Bay, New York and Detroit — all of whom have quality running backs.