The San Francisco 49ers and Minnesota Vikings both made it out of Week 1 with a victory, and pretty easy victories at that. This week, the NFC Champion 49ers will head to Minneapolis and the U.S. Bank Stadium to face Sam Darnold and the Minnesota Vikings. The game will kick off at 1:00 p.m. ET on Sunday, September 15th on CBS. Let’s take a look at the 49ers at Vikings predictions.
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The biggest question mark heading into this game is the health of Christian McCaffrey. He was a bit of a surprise scratch on Monday night, well maybe not a surprise to everyone since his backup Jordan Mason admitted post-game that he knew he was starting on Friday. Regardless, Mason filled McCaffery’s spot pretty well and the 49ers had no issues rolling over Aaron Rodgers and the Jets at home.
The Viking season was altered massively before it even started with their top rookie pick, quarterback JJ McCarthy hitting the season-ending injured reserve. Sam Darnold, who was the 49ers backup last season, stepped into the starting role. In his first game as the Vikings starter, Darnold was 19/24 for 208 yards and two touchdown passes. He tossed one interception and added three yards on the ground. Justin Jefferson didn’t have an issue adjusting to his new quarterback catching four passes for 59 yards and a touchdown.
San Francisco 49ers at Minnesota Vikings Predictions
Aaron Jones Over 49.5 Rushing Yards (-115)
The Vikings leaned hard on Aaron Jones in Week 1 against the New York Giants. He carried the ball 14 times for 94 yards averaging 6.7 yards per attempt and scoring a touchdown on the ground along the way. The 49ers defense will no doubt be much tougher than the Giants but nonetheless the last thing the Vikings will want to do is get into a shootout with this scary 49ers offense. When Jones played against the 49ers in the divisional round of the playoffs in January, he ran for 108 yards as a member of the Packers.
Last week Breece Hall of the New York Jets was able to rush for 54 yards against the 49ers. Looks for the Vikings to go to Jones early and often, as they try to slow down the game for Sam Darnold. Jones is their clear number-one back and still has that explosive capability to break a big one.
San Francisco 49ers (-4.5 -115)
The Vikings were impressive in Week 1 looking like they didn’t skip a beat even with the departure of Kirk Cousins. I think that can be more attributed to the Giants being a complete dumpster fire of a team. San Francisco is clearly the better team here. Kyle Shanahan just spent a season with Sam Darnold in his quarterback room learning all of the quarterback’s tendencies. It might still be September, but the Ghosts could make an early appearance for Darnold this year against this rough defense.
