Sunday was another relatively light outing for the San Francisco 49ers defense, which logged 54 snaps after getting just 51 six days earlier against the New York Jets.
The 49ers also dominated the clock for the second straight week, holding onto the ball for 34 minutes, 48 seconds, nearly 10 minutes longer than the Minnesota Vikings. Of course, they weren’t able to take advantage due to turnovers and poor play on third and fourth downs. They drove into Minnesota territory six times but ended up with 17 points. That was their season low from 2023; they hit 17 each week during a three-game losing streak at midseason, including a loss in Minnesota.
The 49ers offense was on the field for 70 snaps. Here’s how the individual snaps were divided …
Quarterback: Brock Purdy 70
The theme of Sunday’s game was that Purdy didn’t have a lot of easy reads. The Vikings blitzed on 23 of his 45 dropbacks and often had his hot reads accounted for. Which led to a lot of double clutching from Purdy and to coverage sacks for the Vikings.
After the game, an impressed Purdy told Minnesota defensive coordinator Brian Flores that his scheme was “crazy.”
“Scheme is crazy.” #49ers QB Brock Purdy paid a compliment to #Vikings DC Brian Flores after congratulating Sam Darnold. #FTTB pic.twitter.com/uwrZTnbKOK
— Matt Lively (@mattblively) September 16, 2024
Still, Purdy managed to throw for 319 yards. Next Gen Stats has a stat called expected completion percentage, which takes into account everything from how much separation a receiver has on a given throw to how far from the quarterback he is to how much pressure the passer is under. Next Gen’s prediction for Purdy was 60.4 percent, one of the lowest expectations for any quarterback in Week 2. He ended up beating that mark by a long shot in completing 77.8 percent of his throws.
Running back: Jordan Mason 57, Kyle Juszczyk (fullback) 40, Deebo Samuel Sr. 3, Isaac Guerendo 1
Samuel didn’t line up in the backfield nearly as much as last week when he had 10 snaps there. Mason, however, has been getting a very full workload — 58 snaps in Week 1 and 57 on Sunday. Last season, Christian McCaffrey had only one regular-season game with more than 58 snaps; he had 70 in the Week 16 loss to the Baltimore Ravens. McCaffrey had 63, 60 and 70 snaps in the three postseason games.
Another indication of how hard it was for Purdy to find his primary receivers? Juszczyk, who is usually a checkdown option, was targeted five times. That’s the most he’s had in the last five seasons.
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Receiver: Brandon Aiyuk 61, Samuel 57, Jauan Jennings 38, Chris Conley 9, Ronnie Bell 6
Samuel caught eight of 10 targets for 110 yards and ranks 10th in the NFL with 164 receiving yards. However, he told Kyle Shanahan on Monday that he thinks he strained his calf on his final catch, an in-breaking 2-yard grab on the 49ers’ final drive.
Shanahan said Samuel probably will miss “a couple” of weeks, a blow to both the team’s running and passing game. The 49ers were 0-3 in the games Samuel missed — or mostly missed — due to injury last season.
“Always when you lose good players it’s tough,” Shanahan said. “But it happens all over the league. It’s a huge part of this league and a huge part of this game. Gotta deal with it.”
Aiyuk’s snap percentage, meanwhile, jumped from 60 percent against the Jets to 87 percent against the Vikings, suggesting he’s close to being at full strength from a stamina standpoint. He played roughly 92 percent of the snaps in a typical game last season.
For the second straight game, rookie Jacob Cowing didn’t get on the field on offense.
Tight end: George Kittle 51, Eric Saubert 26, Jake Tonges 1
Saubert’s snap count jumped from 19 in Week 1 to 26 on Sunday in part because Kittle had to go to the locker room for an IV in the second half. Saubert also caught two passes for 26 yards on the 49ers’ final drive. He’s been targeted three times so far this season, the same number of targets former No. 2 tight end Charlie Woerner had all of last season.
Saubert and Tonges also recorded the team’s only two special teams tackles.
Offensive line: Trent Williams 70, Aaron Banks 70, Jake Brendel 70, Dominick Puni 70, Colton McKivitz 70
Purdy was sacked six times, the highest count since he took over as starter late in the 2022 season. The majority were coverage sacks or situations in which the Vikings brought an extra pass rusher and Purdy simply didn’t have an outlet. Williams and Banks were the only linemen beaten for sacks.
The 49ers did give up 17 quarterback pressures. The only time they allowed that or more last regular season was against the Ravens when they gave up 22. (Purple is not their color.)
QB pressures allowed
- McKivitz: 6
- Williams: 4
- Puni: 3
- Brenel: 2
- Banks: 2
Defensive line: Nick Bosa 46, Maliek Collins 36, Javon Hargrave 33, Leonard Floyd 32, Yetur Gross-Matos 26, Jordan Elliott 20, Kevin Givens 19, Robert Beal Jr. 4
Floyd started the game, played 32 snaps but didn’t record an official stat — not a tackle or even a quarterback pressure. He lost snaps to Gross-Matos, who was making his 49ers debut, as the game wore on.
Gross-Matos, who mostly lined up at right defensive end, finished with two quarterback hurries and a quarterback hit.
Linebacker: Fred Warner 54, De’Vondre Campbell Sr. 51, Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles 20
If the 49ers had somehow won, the outing would have been known as the Fred’s Fist game. Because that fist was extremely active, twice punching the ball from Vikings players, including on what could have been a back-breaking catch and run by Aaron Jones late in the third quarter.
We’ll take that! @fred_warner x @isaacshowtime
📺 #SFvsMIN on CBS
NFL+ // https://t.co/KTh0i4nCVJ pic.twitter.com/xttYVng2W3— San Francisco 49ers (@49ers) September 15, 2024
Warner recorded a sack when he chased Sam Darnold out of bounds late in the game and emerged with a stat in every defensive category but one — fumble recoveries.
- Tackles: 9
- Tackles for loss: 1
- Sacks: 1
- Interceptions: 1
- Pass breakups: 2
- Forced fumbles: 2
His 95.8 grade from Pro Football Focus was the highest of any defensive starter this week and likely makes him a top candidate for the NFC’s defensive player of the week.
Cornerback: Deommodore Lenoir 54, Charvarius Ward 53, Isaac Yiadom 34, Renardo Green 4
Ward normally is an excellent run defender, but not on Sunday when he got caught peeking inside twice and helped allow big runs to the outside.
The 49ers cornerbacks were strong in coverage for the second straight week with Ward and Lenoir giving up three short catches for a total of 18 yards. The team did seem to have trouble with the Vikings’ bunch formations. Yiadom, for example, allowed three catches for 42 yards. All three were successful third-down conversions for Minnesota.
Green got his first defensive snap of the season on the Vikings’ opening drive when he entered as an extra inside cornerback on third-and-long. His opponent on that play? Justin Jefferson. Darnold instead threw for Jones and his pass was broken up by Warner. Green played three more snaps at outside corner in the second half.
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Safety: Ji’Ayir Brown 54, Malik Mustapha 31, George Odum 23
It was not a good day for the 49ers safeties. Brown and Ward, for example, seemed to be confused about who was going to cover tight end Josh Oliver versus receiver Jalen Nailor on a third-down snap at the San Francisco 10-yard line. Both went with Oliver, leaving Nailor alone for an easy touchdown.
Odum, meanwhile, had coverage on Jefferson’s 97-yard touchdown with Brown providing help over the top. Brown, however, allowed Jefferson to get past him, and both failed to haul down the receiver after the catch.
JUSTIN JEFFERSON 97 YARD TUDDY!!!!!!!!! pic.twitter.com/0PJs9mheCK
— NFL (@NFL) September 15, 2024
Mustapha played opposite Brown for the next two defensive series, then came in again for Odum in the second half. Shanahan said the plan all along was to work Mustapha into the game and that it had nothing to do with Odum’s coverage on the Jefferson touchdown.
Like last week, practice squad call-up Tracy Walker III did not play any snaps on defense or special teams. He’s merely been a precaution against injuries so far this season.
Special teams: Curtis Robinson 20, Saubert 16, Flannigan-Fowles 15, Mustapha 14, Beal 14, Tonges 13, Conley 13, Tatum Bethune 13, Green 13, Rock Ya-Sin 10, Odum 11, Yiadom 8, Mitch Wishnowsky 7, Patrick Taylor Jr. 7, Jake Moody 6, Taybor Pepper 6, Elliott 5, Gross-Matos 5, Campbell 5, Brown 5, Lenoir 5, Warner 5, Samuel 5, McKivitz 3, Puni 3, Moore 3, Zakelj 3, Burford 3, Collins 3, Cowing 3, Guerendo 3, Givens 2, Juszczyk 2, Bell 1
The blocked punt occurred when C.J. Ham split the block of Beal and Flannigan-Fowles. That’s Beal in the photo below looking backward toward Ham.
Who’s to blame for Sunday’s blocked punt? The Vikings’ C.J. Ham got between Robert Beal and Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles. That’s Beal looking backward as Ham runs by … pic.twitter.com/9RSo42erPF
— Matt Barrows (@mattbarrows) September 16, 2024
Another potentially costly miscue was Cowing’s muffed punt deep in his own territory. The ball was batted around for several seconds before Yiadom secured it.
It was that lack of security that caused the 49ers to move off then-rookie Bell as their punt returner last season. Bell is another option this year as is Trent Taylor, who is on the practice squad but who could be bumped up in upcoming games.
(Photo of Deebo Samuel: Jeffrey Becker / Imagn Images)
