Instant analysis of 49ers’ 22-17 loss to Vikings

Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Jordan Addison (3) breaks a tackle by San Francisco 49ers cornerback Charvarius Ward (7) during a 60-yard touchdown reception in the first half of an NFL football game, Monday, Oct. 23, 2023, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

MINNEAPOLIS – For a second straight game, the favored 49ers were in desperate need of a fourth-quarter comeback. This also failed.

The 49ers defense pulled away in Monday night’s 22-17 loss to the Vikings, but it wasn’t until Brock Purdy intercepted two passes in the final 5 1/2 minutes that he sealed a second straight loss.

It was Purdy’s first career game with two interceptions, and they landed on targets to Jauan Jennings and Ray-Ray McCloud, the receivers called up to help fill in for Deebo Samuel, who is out with a shoulder he broke in the loss of last week in Cleveland. .

The 49ers (5-2) saw their defense repeatedly blow up assignments and surrender 378 passing yards to Kirk Cousins, who wasn’t sacked and didn’t even have the services of star receiver Justin Jefferson (injured reserve). The Vikings (3-4) have won seven straight home games against the 49ers dating back to 1994.

If one play could define the 49ers’ defensive failures, it was Jordan Addison’s 60-yard touchdown reception seven seconds before halftime. Charvarius Ward tried to intercept Cousins’ pass as he did on the opening series of the game, but once Addison picked up the ball at the 35, there was no safety to stop him from scoring. That’s because defensive coordinator Steve Wilks’ third and sixth blitz calls failed and safety Tashaun Gipson Sr. was caught biting the game.

When asked if he agreed with the blitz call, 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan said: “That’s something we’ll discuss this week. Obviously I didn’t like the result.”

The anger then seeped out from the 49ers’ leaders, both in the locker room and on the media stage.

“You just have to let the anger fuel you in the right way and be obsessed with execution and doing your job,” says Christian McCaffrey. “We have the right guys for that mentality. This is not a team that is going to fold.”

“The NFL will humble you every step of the way,” defensive end Nick Bosa said. “And when you start 5-0, you get a little bit of confidence that we are who we need to be. But the NFL does. They are good players, good plans, and we are going against another good team this week, so we have to be ready.”

Next up is a home game on Sunday against the Cincinnati Bengals (3-3). The Bengals are coming off their bye, just like the Cleveland Browns were before handing the 49ers their first loss. The 49ers’ bye comes in Week 9, and while they remain atop the NFC West, they are a half-game better than the Seattle Seahawks (4-2).

Purdy and the 49ers offense had opportunities to correct their defense’s glaring issues in Monday’s waning moments.

Purdy converted a fourth-and-1 dive at midfield before throwing his first interception. Safety Camryn Bynum easily snagged it at the Vikings’ 30-yard line, with Jennings trailing about 5 yards late on the route. Purdy and coach Kyle Shanahan both blamed the pass (“Bad ball,” Purdy said) and Jennings’ route, in which he stuttered for a beat before cutting inside.

When the Vikings’ Greg Joseph missed a 50-yard field goal attempt with 1:11 remaining, it gave Purdy and the 49ers one last chance. After consecutive completions to McCloud, the 49ers found themselves at the Vikings’ 40-yard line. Purdy tried to hit McCloud again, only for his pass to find Bynum again. “I could have run and come down, but I forced it,” Purdy said.

“Their defense needed three and we needed one,” safety Talanoa Hufanga said of the turnover battle. “With these numbers you are going to lose.”

The Vikings were 7 of 10 on third-down conversions before a stop in the fourth quarter forced them to punt for the first time with 9:22 left.

McCaffrey, playing through an oblique injury, scored both 49ers’ touchdowns, extending his streak of 16 consecutive games with at least one score (one shy of Lenny Moore’s record with the 1965 Baltimore Colts).

The 49ers’ comeback bid caught fire when McCaffrey scored on a 35-yard catch-and-run down the right sideline, cutting the Vikings’ lead to 19-14 with 5:54 remaining in the fourth quarter. Jennings and Brandon Aiyuk kept McCaffrey untouched for the final 25 yards.

Aiyuk had five catches on five targets for 57 yards in the first half, then was thrown just once as Purdy said the Vikings’ zone defense essentially double-covered Aiyuk and forced Purdy to focus on the other half of the field .

Before that score, there were completions to McCaffrey (12 yards) and George Kittle (28), but before those plays, the 49ers’ largely maligned defense came through with a goal-line stand, forcing the Vikings to settle for a 20-yard field goal. . Another Vikings field goal, from 54 yards, pushed their lead to 22-14 just 20 seconds before the fourth quarter.

Jake Moody’s 55-yard field goal got the 49ers within 22-17 with 13:21 remaining. The rookie kicker had missed a 40-yard attempt wide right in the second quarter, which looked eerily similar to a 41-yard miss wide right in the closing seconds of the previous game’s 19-17 loss in Cleveland.

The 49ers, whose defense allowed a league-low 14.5 points per game through Week 6, had surrendered 16 points at halftime Monday night. Miscues caused them to withdraw. Ward had emptied his locker and left before speaking to reporters, as was the case a week earlier when Gipson skipped rather than talk about his unnecessary roughness penalty that sparked the Browns’ winning drive.

The 49ers had stayed within 10-7 with 1:01 remaining until halftime, delivering a steady touchdown drive capped by a three-yard scoring run from McCaffrey. That drive stayed alive thanks to Aiyuk’s 25-yard, third-down catch at midfield, followed by a pair of third-and-1 conversion runs from McCaffrey, who scored behind blocks by Aaron Banks and Jaylon Moore, the latter of whom started in the instead of the injured Trent Williams.

Each team committed a turnover on its opening possession — a Ward interception near midfield was followed by a McCaffrey fumble on the Vikings’ 12-yard line. The Vikings turned McCaffrey’s fumble into a touchdown drive, with Cousins’ third-and-second scoring strike sailing twenty yards to Jordan Addison; Dre Greenlaw was behind in coverage, Gipson Sr. was too late to help and Bosa jumped in vain to try to block the ball at the line instead of rushing to the pocket.

One of the defense’s ugliest runs this season came in the second quarter. It saw Fred Warner miss a tackle on a 13-yard run by Cam Akers, followed by Cousins ​​dropping a third-and-10 screen pass over two blitzing defenders, Greenlaw and Gipson, for a 30-yard catch-and-run by Akers to the 2-yard line. The Vikings settled for a 21-yard field goal at 10-0.

The 49ers defense made a successful goal-line stand after Deommodore Lenoir’s pass interference penalty in the end zone, and the Vikings settled for a 20-yard field goal and a 19-7 lead midway through the third quarter.

“We definitely showed what we are capable of, like our best version of ourselves,” Warner said. “But ultimately I want our mental resilience to increase. I want to win, in whatever form that takes. I don’t care if it’s ugly, okay, we’ll find out later, but let’s find a way to make this happen.