49ers news: 4 numbers to know ahead of Week 2’s matchup against the Vikings

The best part about Week 1 is that there are now numbers to give some sort of idea of what all 32 teams will look like. It’s a minuscule sample size, but they are tangible numbers that we can reach out and touch.

The most critical number to both the San Francisco 49ers and the Minnesota Vikings is one, which is the number of wins both teams have after the season opener. The 49ers and Vikings faced New York teams, and both had little issue disposing of their Week 1 opponents. San Francisco handled the Jets on Monday night, winning 32-19, with the Vikings taking care of the Giants on Sunday, 28-6.

After taking advantage of Daniel Jones and the Giants, the Vikings face a much bigger test in the 49ers. If Minnesota has any hope of being San Francisco, they’ll have to keep Sam Darnold upright, just like they did in Week 1:

1

The Vikings only allowed one sack against the New York Giants in Week 1.

It’s a good New York pass rush that features Brian Burns and Dexter Lawrence and still produced 11 pressures despite the lone sack. As you would expect, Sam Darnold’s numbers, when kept clean, were much better than when he was under pressure. Darnold completed 14-of-15 passes for 154 yards and a touchdown when protected but 5-for-9 for 54 yards with a touchdown and an interception.

Center Garrett Bradbury – who has been limited in practice this week with a knee injury – and right guard Ed Ingram combined to allow ten pressures, with Lawrence wreaking havoc on the interior with six pressures and a sack that came after he plowed through Ingram. Ingram allowed a team-high 42 pressures in 2023 and four pressures against the 49ers when the two teams met last year.

49ers interior pass-rusher Javon Hargrave had a pair of pressures against Minnesota last season, with one recorded Monday night against the Jets. He and Jordan Elliott were the only two interior linemen to record a pressure in the Week 1 win, with Nick Bosa and Leonard Floyd combining for the other nine.

The New York pass rush was successful against the Minnesota offensive line, so it should be expected that the San Francisco pass rush will have some success. San Francisco, however, will hope to finish with more than just one sack and one interception against Darnold under pressure.

5

The Vikings offense had five runs of at least 10 yards, tied for third-most in the NFL in Week 1.

The Minnesota run offense last year was fourth-worst in the league, averaging 91.4 yards on the ground per game in 2023. Minnesota went out and signed former Packer Aaron Jones to replace Alexander Mattison, and that paid dividends in Week 1, with Jones rushing for 94 yards, with all five runs of ten-plus yards. Minnesota finished with 111 rushing yards in the season opener after rushing for more than 100 yards in under half of their games last season.

One of the ten games where Minnesota was held under 100 rushing yards was the Week 7 win over the 49ers. That was against Mattison, however. Sunday will be against Jones, a back the 49ers have some history against. It’s been a few years since San Francisco had seen Jones, last seeing him in the NFC Divisional Round in 2022, when the 49ers held Jones to 41 rushing yards at Lambeau Field. Jones had more success when the Packers played San Francisco earlier in the 2021 season, rushing for 82 yards in a Green Bay Week 3 win.

Interestingly enough, one of the two teams to have more than five runs of at least ten yards was the San Francisco 49ers. The 49ers had six rushes to gain ten or more – Jordan Mason had five, and Brock Purdy had one – en route to its 180-rush yard game against the Jets. Mason could have tacked on two more, with a pair of big runs called back because of holding against the offense.

Both run games were explosive in Week 1 against their New York opponents, but can Minnesota see the same results against a San Francisco defense that held the Jets to 68 yards on 19 attempts?

3

The 49ers turned the ball over three times in the loss to the Vikings last season.

San Francisco went 0-3 in games it turned the ball over three or more times in 2023, but the loss to Minnesota was the closest in terms of margin of victory. The five-point win was aided by an opening drive fumble by Christian McCaffrey right after the San Francisco defense forced a turnover of its own. The Minnesota offense took the McCaffrey mistake and turned that into a touchdown, giving the Vikings an early seven-point lead. The final two turnovers wouldn’t come until the fourth quarter when Purdy threw interceptions on consecutive drives in a one-possession game to give the Vikings the win.

Purdy and the 49ers offense didn’t turn the ball over in the win over the Jets and scored on eight consecutive drives. Minnesota was middle-of-the-league in forcing turnovers in 2023 but was able to force a pair in their Week 1 win against the Giants, with one of the interceptions resulting in six points for the Vikings’ defense.

The 49ers are a relatively safe team with the ball, but mistakes were forced against Minnesota’s defense last season. The Vikings took advantage of a poor Giants offense last week but will face a different challenge on Sunday.

1992

San Francisco hasn’t beaten the Vikings in Minnesota since Week 15 of 1992.

From the Hubert H. Humphrey Metro Dome to U.S. Bank Stadium, San Francisco hasn’t had much success in the great north. While Minnesota has been able to come out on top during the seven-game winning streak, the 49ers have kept the games close, losing by one possession in four of the seven games, including the last two. 2009 was the closest the 49ers had come to beating the Vikings, holding a four-point lead before Brett Favre threw a strike through the heart of 49ers fans to Greg Lewis, giving Minnesota the three-point win.

The list of quarterbacks to be the 49ers is quite the collection of names. Since Steve Young defeated Rich Gannon at Minnesota in 1992, the Vikings have beaten San Francisco with:

• Sean Salisbury (1994)
• Jeff George (1999)
• Gus Frerotte (2003)
• Favre (2009)
• Christian Ponder (2012)
• Kirk Cousins (2018 and 2023)

The name Sam Darnold would fit perfectly on that list. It’ll be up to Purdy and the 49ers to stop the streak.