Divisional Round: MIN@SF (1:35PM PST)

[CriminalMind]

Just now, Malfatron said:

Well, the real money matchup was gonna be NO vs GB

Yes and that would have been the Sunday late game if it went that way.

SF was destined to play on Saturday.

[Split the Sticks]

16 hours ago, BayRaider said:

I can’t believe the Saints are out. They were my SB pick. Now I’m thinking Niners win SB and smash some jobber team like Texans. 1994 Flashbacks. If the Texans make the SB it would be for the sole purpose of giving the Niners a dominant SB win. 

<grin> you a funny guy

[Uncle Buck]

Man, the playoffs are great, but they are also a real gauntlet.  We find a way to win in New Orleans and our reward is being thrown into the inferno that is the San Francisco 49ers!  It sure doesn't get any easier as you go along.  I hope the Vikings put up a good fight.  We will see how things go on game day. 

[Split the Sticks]

48 minutes ago, Malfatron said:

Well, the real money matchup was gonna be NO vs GB

yup, and I'da been all over that like a suit of winter underwear. No way saints are going in there and winning, not in January

[Split the Sticks]

1 minute ago, Uncle Buck said:

Man, the playoffs are great, but they are also a real gauntlet.  We find a way to win in New Orleans and our reward is being thrown into the inferno that is the San Francisco 49ers!  It sure doesn't get any easier as you go along.  I hope the Vikings put up a good fight.  We will see how things go on game day. 

 

As the old saying goes, Uncle Buck, you just never know.

Who has a better chance of beating 49ers, Vikes or Pats? <----(me) LOL.  Just don't drop the cross or you're out of the parade  

[Uncle Buck]

I just saw a good comment in the video that was linked to above.  It pointed out that Kirk Cousins has more playoff victories in this decade than Tom Brady, Drew Brees, and Aaron Rodgers combined! 

So we have that going for us...which is nice. 

[Malfatron]

lol

[SteelKing728]

17 hours ago, ITS_RAMMY_PLAYBOI said:

Could only hope MN wins or they go for the sweep. 

I hope you're a good luck charm. SF team is nasty.

Is Mostert still the starter at RB?

[Broncofan]

Great W for the Vikes, few saw it coming (I wasn’t one of them).   Happy for Cousins, as the label he got was too far the other way.  
 

SF poses more problems for Min on both sides of the ball, namely:  

1.  The SF pass rush with Dee Ford back goes 3-mismatch strong now instead of just Bosa.   Armstead as an inside pass rusher is lethal, outside he’s not nearly as dangerous.  That’s a much bigger problem for the MIN OL.   The QB’s who negate SF’s pass rush are at least functionally mobile - true pocket passers have been killed when the 3 pass rushers are there. 
 

2.  SF getting ILB Kwon Alexander & S Tartt back restores their zone Cover D in a huge way.   Both replacements were constantly out of position and along with Ford going out it changed the SF D to mortal.   Other than 1 key area they are back to their elite version.   
 

3.  On O, SF has 3-4 weapons that can expose the 3rd DB more than NO (which was all Thomas).   
 

Now if Min can get Mackensie Alexander back that will help their pass D a ton - Rhodes plays better vs. big body WR types than quick-twitch types.   And the one area SF is still vulnerable - inside run with Ronald Blair and DJ Jones on IR.  And with Richburg on IR MIN attacking JimmyG with inside pressure like they did with Brees.   On the O side, a heavy dose of Cook and Mattison is in order for Min to have a shot.  So there’s a path to an upset.  

Still, the most likely outcome is a 27-17 SF W.  As always, TO’s ST & ToP will be key.  But ppl who think the SF D is still as vulnerable as it’s been will be surprised how much Ford / Alexander & Tartt’s absences created that transition from elite to vulnerable. 

Edited January 6, 2020 by Broncofan

[TecmoSuperJoe]

19 minutes ago, SteelKing728 said:

I hope you're a good luck charm. SF team is nasty.

Is Mostert still the starter at RB?

Shanahan likes to use Coleman early in the game, but seems to go to Mustard not long after.

[Nozizaki]

8 minutes ago, Broncofan said:

Great W for the Vikes, few saw it coming (I wasn’t one of them).   Happy for Cousins, as the label he got was too far the other way.  
 

SF poses more problems for Min on both sides of the ball, namely:  

1.  The SF pass rush with Dee Ford back goes 3-mismatch strong now instead of just Bosa.   Armstead as an inside pass rusher is lethal, outside he’s not nearly as dangerous.  That’s a much bigger problem for the MIN OL.   The QB’s who negate SF’s pass rush are at least functionally mobile - true pocket passers have been killed when the 3 pass rushers are there. 
 

2.  SF getting ILB Kwon Alexander & S Tartt back restores their zone Cover D in a huge way.   Both replacements were constantly out of position and along with Ford going out it changed the SF D to mortal.   Other than 1 key area they are back to their elite version.   
 

3.  On O, SF has 3-4 weapons that can expose the 3rd DB more than NO (which was all Thomas).   
 

Now if Min can get Mackensie Alexander back that will help their pass D a ton - Rhodes plays better vs. big body WR types than quick-twitch types.   And the one area SF is still vulnerable - inside run with Ronald Blair and DJ Jones on IR.  And with Richburg on IR MIN attacking JimmyG with inside pressure like they did with Brees.   On the O side, a heavy dose of Cook and Mattison is in order for Min to have a shot.  So there’s a path to an upset.  

Still, the most likely outcome is a 27-17 SF W.  As always, TO’s ST & ToP will be key.  But ppl who think the SF D is still as vulnerable as it’s been will be surprised how much Ford / Alexander & Tartt’s absences made in that transition. 

Completely agree with you here.

The one thing that is better about this matchup for Minnesota was that going into New Orleans they had to have Drew Brees turn the ball over more than Kirk Cousins did, and they did. Now they have to force Jimmy Garoppolo into more turnovers while also having Kirk play mostly mistake free. Jimmy G and Kirk tied with 10 fumbles (Jimmy lost 5, Kirk lost 3, but that's mostly luck) and Kirk had only 6 INTs while Jimmy had 13. Their percentages were alos roughly double, with Kirk having an INT on 1.4% of his throws, while Garoppolo had a 2.7% INT rate.

[KFP7]

Will Minnesota maintain their recent turnover barrage?

Starting week 15:

7 turnovers against the Chargers

3 turnovers in one half against Green Bay (only had 13 total on the year)

2 turnovers against NO (only had 8 on the year)

 

49ers currently have 23 giveaways. 

 

[Forge]

48 minutes ago, SteelKing728 said:

I hope you're a good luck charm. SF team is nasty.

Is Mostert still the starter at RB?

Mostert in technical respects has never been the starter. Coleman always "starts" when healthy. But Mostert gets the most carries / touches. It's kind of an annoying idiosyncrasy by Shanny. 

But we still largely take a committee approach to the backfield as a whole, with Mostert just being the best out of the three recently

[Nozizaki]

49er fans, I actually discovered the 49ers have a worse rush defense than the Saints did, allowing 4.5 ypc (vs the Saints 4.2 ypc), does this have to do with the injuries to Dee Ford, Jaquiski Tartt or Kwon Alexander? Or are the 49ers just a below average rush defense?

[J-ALL-DAY]

7 minutes ago, Nozizaki said:

49er fans, I actually discovered the 49ers have a worse rush defense than the Saints did, allowing 4.5 ypc (vs the Saints 4.2 ypc), does this have to do with the injuries to Dee Ford, Jaquiski Tartt or Kwon Alexander? Or are the 49ers just a below average rush defense?

Injuries have something to do with it but even in the beginning of the season the defense was super elite against the pass and mediocre against the run. But I'm assuming they load the box and make it a point to stop Cook first and foremost as they did against Jones when we played the Packers.