Early Lines Are Out...

Gotta disagree. New Orleans had Thomas, who almost exclusively catches passes within ten yards of the LOS, Kamara, a RB, and Cook, a TE as their primary Receivers. Brees was next to last in pass attempts over 20 yards. 

Zimmer knew going in that it would have to be Old Man Ginn and one of the youngsters if someone was going to burn him deep. He didn't fear that and kept Smith up near the LOS a lot.

Kittles is a lot like Thomas in that a large percentage of his catches come within 10 yards. But Sanders and Samuel are the 9ers most productive options after George. And their WRs, not a TE or RB. They can and do go deep. 

Zimmer will likely use the same combo coverages on Kittles that he did on Thomas. Maybe use someone with some size since he's a YAC machine.  But he can't bring his Safeties up because there's simply no way he can trust Rhodes against either Sanders or Samuel. And I'd only trust Waynes on Sanders.

New Orleans simply wasn't constructed in a way that could take advantage of Rhodes/Waynes play and Mac/Hughes being out. SF is and Shanahan will not hesitate to scheme up looks to single his WRs on Mike's iffy CBs. And if he can get the rushing attack working it could get ugly fast.

On the flip side, San Fran has speedy guys like Bosa and Ford and angular guys like Armstead and Buckner. Not seeing the tree trunk DTs that have given this light O-Line problems in the run game. And for the season the 9ers have barely outgained their opponents on the ground. Rudy will have to stay in to help Reiff a lot in Pass Pro and I worry about Elf but I think the Lone can open some holes and pass protect.

They'll need to. I will guarantee you that 20 points in regulation won't cut it on Saturday unless Garappolo has a spectacular meltdown. Which is certainly possible given the best thing he's ever done is hit on Erin Andrews. There were several drives against New Orleans where Stefanski or the Players killed the drive, not the opposing Defense. They'll need to clean that up cuz I expect they will need to put a lot of points on the board to win.

I noticed watching some 49ers film that they love running routes behind the line of scrimmage that go against the flow of the play. They do it with both Kittle and Samuel. They'll line up tight to the line and run a traffic free route to the opposing flat . Essentially, they motion post snap against the grain. They'll beat man coverage because of congestion and they'll easily identify zone coverage if a defender is waiting on that action.

They're a handful, Magic. 2nd in scoring. Run the ball even more than Minnesota does. Frightening matchup. 

@"FSUVike" said: They're a handful, Magic. 2nd in scoring. Run the ball even more than Minnesota does. Frightening matchup. 

I think we can pressure Jimmy G. Two things scare me about them: their running game (both Mostert and Brieda impress me every time I see them) and their interior pass rush against our interior o-line. But if we can lessen the impact of those two things, I see a pretty good game. 

@"MaroonBells" said: https://twitter.com/MINVikingslife/status/1214656273800712192?s=20

On the flip side, the Vikings have the 7th best red zone offense AWAY (64.7%)...  the 49ers red zone defense at home ranks 27th in the NFL (64.7%).

This stat certainly favors the Vikings, we just have to hope we can move the ball on their defense to get inside the red zone at least 4 times like we did against New Orleans.

Stop the run on the way to the QB and pound Cook and Mattison. Mix in a healthy dose of PA shots and shotgun. With Theilen getting his legs under him last week was HUGE as he opens up single coverage shots to perfectly complement PA shots to Diggsie.  Bring on the Niners ! 

@"Wetlander" said:

@"MaroonBells" said: https://twitter.com/MINVikingslife/status/1214656273800712192?s=20

That's an interesting stat...  I dug into this more and San Francisco has the 13th ranked red zone offense at home (60.6%).  The Vikings red zone defense AWAY still ranks 6th (50%).

On the flip side, the Vikings have the 7th best red zone offense AWAY (64.7%)...  the 49ers red zone defense at home ranks 27th in the NFL (64.7%).

This stat certainly favors the Vikings, we just have to hope we can move the ball on their defense to get inside the red zone at least 4 times like we did against New Orleans.

49ers D from week 10-17 have up 24th most ppg...getting Ford and Alexander will help, but they aren't the 85 Bears...

@"BarrNone55" said: 49ers D from week 10-17 have up 24th most ppg...getting Ford and Alexander will help, but they aren't the 85 Bears...

"With Ford on the field this season, the Niners have pressured opposing quarterbacks on 36.3 percent of dropbacks. But without him, that figure drops to 22.7 percent. San Francisco's sack rate falls off a cliff, from 16.3 to 5.4, when Ford isn't on the field. Meanwhile, opposing quarterback figures significantly increase when No. 55's sidelined -- the TD-to-INT ratio goes from 3:4 to 20:8, while the passer rating jumps from 73.8 to 86.4."

Hopefully he is a bit rusty or doesn't get a full snap count this Saturday...

@"Ilovebigtd's" said: truly not sweating the niners

This one scares me much more. The things they're good at? Are some of our key weaknesses. 

Interior OL for the Vikings concerns me the most, followed by everything on our D.

DL is going to have to have another big game.  

I predicted Saints 33/Vikings 18 last week. My superstitious asz will do the same this week and hope for similar results. 

If Reiff wants an extension he needs to step up Saturday, Ford is nasty

@"Bullazin" said: If Kalil wants an extension he needs to step up Saturday, Ford is nasty

@"Wetlander" said:

@"Bullazin" said: If Kalil wants an extension he needs to step up Saturday, Ford is nasty

LOL...  did we time warp to like 2016?