Monday’s 22-17 victory over the San Francisco 49ers by the Minnesota Vikings was a memorable one for rookie wide out Jordan Addison.

After the game at US Bank Stadium, the 21-year-old had an amazing stat line: seven receptions for 123 yards and two touchdowns, including one particularly noteworthy play.

Just before halftime, Addison got his revenge after San Francisco cornerback Charvarius Ward wrestled the ball out of his hands for an interception in the first quarter. He reversed what appeared to be a certain turnover, ripping the ball out of Ward’s hands and taking it to the house for a 60-yard touchdown.

Justin Jefferson

With Justin Jefferson, the great wide receiver for Minnesota, already sidelined due to a hamstring injury, Addison had the ideal environment to produce his breakthrough performance.

Addison was selected with the 23rd overall choice in this year’s draft, and Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell was all over him after the win, labeling his long score a “game-changing play.”

“Jordan has exceeded my expectations beyond measure, but he’s been everything I could have hoped for when I put on the time from his college days,” O’Connell remarked.

“He’s been playing a really big part for our team and offense, and Kirk and the rest of our guys have given him a ton of trust.” Jordan gave an outstanding performance tonight, one that he can definitely build on going forward.

Vikings defeated the 49ers

With the help of Addison’s outstanding performance, the Vikings defeated the 49ers in a thrilling game that somewhat made up for the team’s dismal start to the campaign.

They had started the season 0-3 because they had lost their ability to win close games the previous season, when they had won all 11 of their one-score games, an NFL record.

But in the last several weeks, the club has been winning again; mistakes have been eliminated, the defense has tightened under coordinator Brian Flores, and quarterback Kirk Cousins has found his rhythm again in the offense.

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And all aspects of the squad came together once more in Monday’s game against the formidable 49ers, as Cousins recovered from an early interception to toss a touchdown to Addison on the very next possession.

Throughout, Minnesota’s defense demonstrated its value by slowing down an offense that had previously been explosive.

Vikings defense

On San Francisco’s opening drive of the game, the Vikings defense caused running back Christian McCaffrey to fumble. They also managed to throw Brock Purdy off balance by intercepting him twice, including Camryn Bynum’s game-winning pick in the fourth quarter.

 

 

Nonetheless, Cousins saw opportunity for development since his oldest kid, Cooper, was present for his first night game.

“It was a good night, but because of the way my brain works, I keep thinking about the two red zone plays that we missed for touchdowns,” Cousins remarked. “You also understand that there isn’t much of a difference between sitting here and losing and knowing that you walked away with a win tonight, so you try not to get too down on the losses and appreciate how close you were to winning, and you try not to get too excited on the wins.

“It’s more like, win or lose, try to get that win and then put it away and move on to the next one and fix whatever isn’t good enough,” in my opinion. We’ll do that, but I can promise you that when Cooper and I head home, our mood will be far better than it was when we played the Chiefs two weeks ago.

Faltering

The 49ers had the best first five weeks of the new season of any NFL team.

Every game saw the offense score more than thirty points, and the defense thwarted opponents.

Nonetheless, San Francisco has shown vulnerabilities and given the opposition hope in their Week 6 tight loss to the Cleveland Browns and Monday’s loss to the Vikings.

Head coach Kyle Shanahan of San Francisco stated that although his team showed some encouraging signs in the defeat, there was still much space for development.

 

The demise. falling short. That we weren’t able to remove them from the field disappoints me. We had one punt today, and they had one. We had three turnovers compared to their one, according to Shanahan.

It appears to be a shootout when both teams punt just once, but we ended up turning the ball over twice more than they did. It’s practically that easy—it was a five-point game.

The 49ers drop to 5-2 after their second straight loss, while the Vikings move up to 3-4.

Regarding the 49ers’ consecutive defeats, Nick Bosa said, “NFL will humble you every step of the way.”

The San Francisco 49ers were 5-0 two weeks ago following their crushing of the Dallas Cowboys. Now that the Niners are suddenly 5-2, Nick Bosa and the team are looking for answers after Monday night’s 22-17 loss in Minnesota.

According to Bosa, “The NFL will humble you every step of the way,” NBC Sports Bay Area reported. “The NFL does that, but you kind of get that confidence that you are who we need to be when you get out to a 5-0 start. Excellent players, clever strategies, and we need to be prepared since we’re playing a good squad this week.”

On Monday night, the Niners defense was unable to get off the field, giving up 452 yards and eight of thirteen third down conversions to Kirk Cousins and the Vikings. A blowout would have resulted from the game if not for two red-zone stands.

BACK TO BACK LOSSES

The Niners, who suffered their first consecutive defeats in precisely a year (Weeks 6-7, 2022), lacked the supplementary play that characterized their early run of routs.

The defense was unable to discomfit Cousins, producing no sacks as the secondary was destroyed by a Vikings team without Justin Jefferson. In the attacking half of the game, Christian McCaffrey fumbled on the opening drive after Brock Purdy threw two interceptions.

The Niners had won four of their first five games by blowout, but they have now dropped back-to-back close games, losing each one in the end.

Linebacker Fred Warner told ESPN that “we’ve got to find ways to win the grimy games, the ones where it’s not looking great and find a way.” “Obviously, we can win, 30-10, but who are we and what are we going to do when we’re down and we’ve got to come back and win a game?”