Viktor
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- Mar 19, 2019
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CBS Sports breaks down Vikings loss to Niners
CBS Sports’ Patrik Walker covered Minnesota-San Francisco, “the matchup that no one predicted” and gave credit to the Vikings offense for answering back early and making it a 7-7 contest. Then, however,
“a close game early slowly morphed into a convincing victory” for the 49ers, who advanced to next weekend’s NFC Championship Game.
Walker pointed out both Minnesota’s missteps as well as San Francisco’s successes, calling Richard Sherman’s interception of Cousins the game’s turning point.
The 49ers were coming off a first-round bye, and Walker opined that the extra rest “became evident by the time the second quarter rolled around.”
_They used the Vikings fatigue against them by owning time of possession to a massive degree and rattled off first downs effortlessly while Minnesota struggled to get five in four quarters of play. From there, it was just a matter of gashing the opponent with a heavy dose of running backs Tevin Coleman – who had 105 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns – along with Raheem Mostert. _
The two combined for 163 yards on the ground and helped make Garoppolo's mostly pedestrian day inconsequential, the aerial exception being two key plays made by Deebo Samuel as he bullied his way through the Vikings on-demand. Defensively, they sacked Cousins six times and handed him an interception to boot, while shutting down the run attack at the same time. It’s not that the Niners played flawless football, it’s that they simply didn't stop punching – even when they got punched back.