49ers Come Away with Second Preseason Win in Minnesota Despite Offensive Line Woes

A few key phrases from Saturday night’s game: Turnovers, Penalties, Drops.

That about sums it up as the 49ers put up enough points to beat the Minnesota Vikings on the road, 17-7. Saturday’s victory marks the second of the preseason for the red & gold.

The game was slow from the jump, with both teams unable to put any points on the board into first quarter. The Vikings had the first possession of the game, taking it down inside 49ers territory before QB Kellen Mond threw a ball directly to backup S George Odum for the easy INT. Odum returned the ball to the Vikings’ 48-yard line and halted a good start from Mond.

The 49ers didn’t do much better their first time out, getting stopped on a Trey Sermon run that resulted in a turnover on downs. Both teams gave the ball back to one another for the duration of the first quarter, ending the period 0-0.

The second quarter brought with it some more action as the Red & Gold were the first team to put points on the board after a botched punt return turned into a fumble recovery for rookie nickelback Samuel Womack III.  Unfortunately the 49ers couldn’t capitalize fully, thanks to a dropped pass by TE Tanner Hudson inside the redzone. Forced to bring out the kicking team, Robbie Gould converts to make it 0-3 to the Bay Area squad.

The Vikings eventually answered back. QB Sean Mannion drove down the field with his offense, capping an eight play, 60-yard drive with a rushing TD by rookie RB Ty Chandler.

With about a minute and a half to operate, rookie QB Brock Purdy came on to try and take the lead before halftime. Getting inside the 30 yard line, Purdy tried to connect with his wideouts on two fade routes, to no avail. Gould was again asked to come out for the place kick, 6-7 at the break.

The third quarter yielded the same result as the first: No points.

#49ers RB Ty Davis-Price getting schwifty. pic.twitter.com/S91AiBJP0h

— Alex Tran (@nineralex) August 21, 2022

Both teams experienced punts and turnovers as neither really established much offense. Purdy and 49ers came close midway through the quarter, getting inside the ten yard line of Minnesota before disaster struck again. A poor block by Keaton Sutherland lead to a push by Vikings’ DT T.Y. McGill that pushed the center back into Purdy, forcing him to bobble the exchange with RB Ty Davis-Price and fumble the ball to the opposition.

The fourth quarter is where the scoring resumed.

After driving down the field to close out the third, QB Nate Sudfeld had his offense inside the ten, connecting from two yards out on an angle route to RB JaMychal Hasty. The 49ers went the two-point conversion and got it, hitting Gray this time to make it 7-14 in the fourth quarter.

The Vikings were unable to answer, punting the ball away twice before Purdy returned to drive the team down the field.  49ers’ faithful rejoiced for a moment when undrafted RB Jordan Mason found the end zone from a few yards out. Unfortunately, penalties negated momentum once again, this time getting Hudson on a holding call to back up the red & gold. Forced to settle for three, Gould came on to make the score 7-17 with four minutes to go in the game.

Mond came on to try and salvage some points but was abruptly stopped inside the redzone of the 49ers after throwing a terrible lob pass that was picked off by S Tayler Hawkins.

That was all she wrote as the Bay Area team took home their second win of the preseason, 7-17.

The biggest takeaways from the contest was the sheer volume of turnovers, penalties and drops. Ten penalties called against the 49ers compared to only two for the home team, including four false starts in the first half.

Drops were also a key issue for the red & gold, halting any momentum the team had made on the gridiron Saturday. Two dropped balls in particular stood out, both from Purdy. The first occurred in the second quarter, looking to hit WR Jaquan Jennings on an out route. The other involved Gray, hitting the rookie speedster in stride but he couldn’t hold on to it. Drops have been an issue for head coach Kyle Shanahan and the 49ers, something he looks to correct in the regular season.

Additionally, the offensive line struggled against Minnesota. Yes, it’s second and third-stringers but that shouldn’t matter in exhibitions.  The Vikings achieved three sacks, constantly getting pressure in the backfield, forcing poor throws and incompletions all evening long.

The struggles were felt most in the run game, garnering a mere 25 yards on nine carries in the first half. For a team that loves to run the ball, that is certainly not the production Shanahan wants from his unit.

Jordan Mills beat. Both he and Justin Skule have allowed a sack already. Not crazy to think that Daniel Brunskill might again end up the 49ers’ best swing tackle option

— David Lombardi (@LombardiHimself) August 20, 2022

Among the biggest culprits was veteran OT Justin Skule, called for false starts and giving up pressure throughout this one. The former Vanderbilt lineman may not get another chance to prove his worth for the 49ers, possible a prime candidate for cuts coming up.

Among the standouts defensively, DT Javon Kinlaw got some limited action in the first half. The former Gamecock appeared in only a few series but made his presence felt with a sack on Mond in the first quarter.

Javon Kinlaw feasted on rookie Ed Ingram, a second-round pick out of LSU, in this pass-obvious situation.

Good sign for the 49ers — everybody already knows Kinlaw can plug the run. Pass-down explosiveness means == health https://t.co/Ayg5Eg9mZL

— David Lombardi (@LombardiHimself) August 20, 2022

The third-year defensive tackle saw double and triple teams throughout, as the Vikings realized quick that he can’t be one-on-one with the backups.

The 49ers wrap up their preseason tour Thursday, traveling to Houston to take on the Texans. Kickoff from Texas is set for 5:15 p.m. PST.

 

 

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