Fragen und Antworten » Vikings vs. 49ers: Thoughts & Expectations T

he long awaited start of the Vikings regular season is just a few days away Adam Thielen Jersey , and expectations are high going into the Vikings first home game against the 49ers.Here’s a few matchups I’m looking at:CAN THE VIKINGS RUN ON THE 49ERS DEFENSE?It will be interesting to see how the Vikings offense line fares on Sunday, with Brett Jones at center and Tom Compton at left guard, in addition to Reiff at left tackle, Remmers at right guard and Rashod Hill at right tackle.The 49ers have DeForest Buckner on their defensive line, but even his run defense wasn’t that great last season, and everybody else along the 49ers DL was worse. Beyond that, the 49ers will be starting a couple unproven linebackers - including rookie 3rd round pick Fred Warner.Malcolm Smith missed all of last season, and hasn’t fared well in the three seasons prior to that.Smith was also limited in practice yesterday with a hamstring issue.The 49ers top LB - Reuben Foster - will be out serving a suspension.Expect the Vikings to test the 9ers’ LBs early and often with both run and pass, which could lead to big games for Dalvin Cook and Latavius Murray.HOW GOOD IS RICHARD SHERMAN THESE DAYS?It will be interesting if Kirk Cousins throws much into Sherman’s coverage. Sherman has been a shut-down corner for a long time, but started showing his age last season before he suffered an Achilles injury that sidelined him the rest of the season in Seattle.Now with the 9ers, and with just 34 snaps in preseason, how well will he play?WELCOME TO THE NFL MIKE MCGLINCHEYOn offense, the 49ers will be starting rookie first-round pick Mike McGlinchey at right-tackle. He was mediocre in preseason, and will be facing off against Danielle Hunter, who may give him a rather rude welcome to the NFL.JIMMY G VS. MIKE ZJimmy Garoppolo has been in the league for several years now, but still has just over a handful of games under his belt. Look for Mike Zimmer and the Vikings defense to throw a lot of different looks at him, with lots of pre-snap movement to get in his head. And if the 9ers aren’t able to put together an effective ground game without Jerick McKinnon Kirk Cousins Jersey , it could be a long and painful outing for Jimmy G, who can throw the occasional INT.I wouldn’t be surprised to see the return of the double-A gap blitz look against the 49ers’ interior OL and Jimmy G, among other things.Sheldon Richardson had his best game (largely due to run defense) last season at the 49ers week 12.The 49ers OL outside of Joe Staley at LT (who is a stud), will be tested against the Vikings DL.SPECIAL TEAMSWith all the issues the Vikings had in preseason on special teams, combined with the new specialists and returners, it will be interesting to see how the Vikings fare on special teams.I’m hoping for a mistake-free game on special teams, but with a new punter, kicker, holder, returner, special teams players, and new rules,anything could happen. Hopefully it will be uneventful.BOTTOM LINEThe 49ers had a lot planned for Jerick McKinnon in their offense this year, so losing him for the season with an ACL tear was a big blow. Losing MLB Reuben Foster to suspension for two games will hurt too.Still, Jimmy G looks like the real deal and he’s got a couple good receivers to throw to in Pierre Garcon and Marquise Goodwin. But Mike Zimmer and the Vikings defense in the roar of the crowd at US Bank stadium isn’t about to let a young QB steal the show, especially absent a decent ground game.I’m looking for a dominant defensive performance from the Vikings to start the season, with an impressive ground game making things easier for Kirk Cousins in his debut as a Viking Marcus Sherels Jersey , and a comfortable Vikings win.27-13. Two weeks, two ties.OK, let's get this out of the way now: Yes, the NFL is fit to be tied.Fit tighter than most folks might think, too.In a slopfest of an opener, the Steelers and Browns drew 21-21 . The first game of the season often can be messy and painful to watch, particularly when so many key players don't take the field much, if at all, in the preseason. This one was all of that, even if a tie was a big step in the right direction for Cleveland, which lost 31 of 32 contests entering this season.Yet the Browns sounded more angry with the deadlock than did the Steelers."There's no way that we shouldn't have won this game," safety Jabrill Peppers said. "We didn't win. It is all about winning. Nobody cares about draws or ties, whatever you guys call it. We were in a (position) to win this game countless times. We just have to make the plays."A week later, in a more artistic affair — minus the ugly kicking by the now-released Daniel Carlson for Minnesota — the Vikings and Packers finished 29-29. Like the other tie, it was a divisional game. Unlike the other one, both of these clubs should be in the playoff hunt.So assessing a draw left them perplexed."I don't know what to feel after a tie," Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins said. "It's a unique place to be and proud of the way that the whole team — when I say the team Xavier Rhodes Jersey , the coaching staff, the players, the support staff — the way everybody stayed in it and fought. There were times where we thought we should have won it, there were times the Packers feel like they should have won it. And it was a great game, and unfortunately we didn't get the win."Green Bay's reactions were similar."It's gross," kicker Mason Crosby offered. "I don't like it. Obviously, you hate losing. A tie is just weird. You just don't get them a lot."Ah, but you just might this season. Two in two weeks could be a harbinger.The NFL reduced the length of overtime from 15 minutes to 10 before last season. Stunningly, there were no ties.But the odds of more results without a winner are vastly increased. And league executives understood that when they made the change."What it came down to was really a player safety discussion," said Dean Blandino, head of the league's officiating department when the rule change was made in 2017 and now an NFL analyst for Fox. "The year prior to change, you had several games that went the full overtime periods and ended in a tie, or a game ended on a field goal at the last second. That's an additional however many plays in that game. We had one instance when a team had to come back on Thursday night and play, so that's a very short week for rest and then playing again."So we asked, 'Are we pushing our players to play an extra quarter and having to come back, creating a chance for more injuries?'"Yes the potential for more ties would be there in a shorter overtime, but the members of the (competition) committee and the owners didn't think a tie was necessarily a bad thing."Maybe yes Mike Remmers Jersey , maybe no. But are the alternatives worthwhile?The NFL could adopt the college rule (won't ever happen), which detractors have said is like having a home run derby decide a tied baseball game; too much of the natural game is eliminated. So is the sudden death element, although even that has been diluted by the current NFL overtime rule in which the team receiving the kickoff must score a touchdown for the game to end immediately.Not that we are advocating for getting rid of that and returning to the coin toss being even more instrumental in deciding a game.The option of continuing to play until there is a winner doesn't work in the regular season for a variety of reasons. Player safety — player exhaustion — is the main reason, but there are broadcast considerations on a busy Sunday afternoon, too. And fan comfort, particularly in Lambeau or Soldier Field or Gillette Stadium in December.The NFL also senses that with the shorter overtime, teams will attack more during the extra period. That seems to have been the case at Lambeau Field last Sunday. In the other tie, play was so chaotic it was difficult to tell if either side had a plan for winning."There were a lot of things discussed and on the table," Blandino said of competition committee meetings about overtime. "This goes back if you look prior to 2012, the coin toss was such a big part of OT. We had less ties under that system; just, look at the stats from 1994-2011, and there were only four ties. Since 2012 and the chance to have both teams getting possession, in the next five years, we had five ties in that period."And in 2018, we already have two. Get ready for more.