The 49ers suffered their second straight loss Monday night, dropping a prime-time game in Minnesota to the Vikings, 22-17.
The San Francisco defense could not get off the field on third downs, allowing eight conversions in 12 opportunities by Kirk Cousins and the Vikings. They forced just one punt, midway through the fourth quarter. The ensuing possession ended with Brock Purdy throwing an interception in Vikings territory, as did the 49ers’ final possession after a missed Minnesota field goal.
Purdy finished 21-of-30 on the day with one touchdown (a swing pass Christian McCaffrey took 35 yards for a score) and those two ill-timed picks.
McCaffrey rushed 15 times for 45 yards and another score. George Kittle, Brandon Aiyuk and Jauan Jennings each had five catches for 78, 57 and 54 yards, respectively. Deebo Samuel missed the game with a shoulder injury.
Kyle Shanahan
On the performance:
We flat-out got beat. Right now you have to take it like a man.
On the defense:
I was real disappointed that we couldn’t get them off the field. They had one punt today, we had one punt. They had one turnover, we had three turnovers. I think when both teams only punt once, looks like it’s going to be a shootout. But we ended up turning it over two more times than them, and it was a five-point game. Almost as simple as that.
On whether he liked the call to blitz on the touchdown to Jordan Addison late in the second quarter:
That’s stuff we’ll discuss this week. Obviously, I did not like the result.
On Purdy:
I thought he played really well. The one missed throw to Jauan was the one tough play that he didn’t make.
On Jaylon Moore:
I didn’t say his name much today so I’m assuming he did well.
On the offensive output:
When it’s a game like that, we just got to score on all those and when you turn it over three times, that’s three drives without points.
Christian McCaffrey
On how he felt physically:
It really doesn’t matter. If you’re out there, you have a responsibility to your teammates to play the best you can. I can’t make those mistakes like that early in the game.
On correcting issues:
We have a team that’s hyper-critical of each individual and you know we can just let it trick down and take a good hard look in the mirror. I know I’ll do that. I made a bad mistake today that I believe cost us the game. If I don’t fumble that ball… put it on me and go from there.
On the team:
We practice hard. We got all the right guys, we just have to play well.
On bouncing back:
You just have to let the anger fuel you in the right ways and, you know, come out and just be obsessed with executing and doing your job. We got the right guys for that mentality.
Brock Purdy
On his first interception:
Just a bad ball. JJ did a good job on his route and D-line got a good push and I sort of just was trying to anticipate the throw … He ran the right route, the right timing and everything. I just got pushed and sort of lost sight of him and just anticipated it too far ahead of him.
On his second interception:
Just trying to strain and make a play. That was like the shot within the play to hit Ray-Ray coming across the middle. And then that middle safety Tampa player did a good job. I was trying to throw it over, I’m trying to force it. Got to learn from it. I think I could have ran and got down, whatever, but I just forced it.
On a second loss:
It’s tough, two in a row. In the NFL, you know every team is good. It doesn’t matter who you’re going against, what the record is or anything like that. We didn’t come into the week taking this team lightly, and it was going to be a hostile environment. It was going to be a great challenge. Their defense is really good, Kirk Cousins is really good. We came in with the right mindset, we just got to execute better.
Nick Bosa
On the third downs:
I think a lot went into it. Us not making the plays when they were there. The way the game went definitely played into their hands, especially in the first half. But definitely look at the tape and not be too happy about how we performed and the moments where we could have changed it.
On the defense having no sacks:
We have a lot of really good players on the D-line and obviously a lot invested in it and you have to make the plays in there. … It was definitely a couple of opportunities there where I could change the game and I needed to do that with the player I’m supposed to be.
On the defense:
As good as we think we are, every single week it’s the NFL, and if one guy is off, they’re going to make a play. Kirk Cousins is a really good quarterback — he was making some good checks against our looks.
On the 60-yard TD to Addison:
We try to emphasize those two-minute drives, especially going into half and at the end of the game. We want to get off the field and not give them any points. That was a difference in the game. We called a blitz, I think all-out, and it definitely wasn’t — I don’t know how the back end feels about it, but Mooney was there. Tough luck for him on that.
On blitzing:
It definitely works out sometimes. I’m not used to it. We’re usually a rush-four kind of team and it’s a little different this year.
On talking to Warner postgame:
Just kind of debriefing. Both of us had our moments and had some good drives and some bad ones. Had some missed tackles between me and him and I think me and him try to take as much of the brunt of failure, being who we are and the leaders that we try to be.
On the two losses:
The NFL will humble you every step of the way. Getting off to a 5-0 start, you kind of get the confidence that we are who we need to be, but the NFL does that. It’s good players, good schemes and we’re going to face another good team this week.
Fred Warner
On the defense:
We couldn’t get off the field, plain and simple. We started slow in the first half and then, you know, anytime the quarterback’s throwing for almost 400 yards and I’m not sure what the third-down percentage was, but it was just too much leaky yardage.
On the choice to blitz:
Obviously people are gonna be like “Oh, why are we gonna blitz in that situation?” But you look at it, Mooney had an interception and their player had to make a great play and goes in there and scores.
On the losing streak:
We’ve shown obviously what we’re capable of, like our best version of ourselves. But at the end of the day, I want our mental toughness to go up. I want to win in any form or fashion. I don’t care of it’s ugly, like all right, we’ll figure it out later on but let’s find a way to get this done.
On his talk with Bosa:
Same thing I’m talking to you guys about, finding a way to win no matter what. Me and him obviously just got to be better for the team and find ways to make more plays.
Source: www.mercurynews.com