Murphy: A cold day in the Bay
Things piled up against the Vikings on Sunday, who had a chance to prove themselves in the Bay
By Brian Murphy, special to Purple Insider
The coldest winter the Vikings ever spend in discontent may have been a fourth quarter in Santa Clara.
Oh, the tales Mark Twain could tell in 2021 about this emotionally overwrought team and its tortured tribe of faithful believers and daily disavowers.
Heroes in search of vindication. Villains delivering knockout blows. Persecutors in black-and-white stripes. Gallant warriors dropping on the battlefield. Dramatic failures. Dubious strategy. Nervous breakdowns lurking on every snap.
Minnesota’s 34-26 loss to the San Francisco 49ers Sunday was not fatal to their postseason crusade. It may have galvanized it for the six-game sprint to the regular-season finish line, with other NFC playoff hunters seemingly incapable of seizing the moment.
But it was another fitting finish and an all-too familiar reckoning. A gutsy performance in a house of horrors that betrayed the will of a contender and the flaws of a pretender.
Elusive through 11 games is the winning record that would distinguish the Vikings as an ascendant power with confident playmakers ready to stake their claim. Alas, they are a battered and stumbling tease that cannot get out of its own way.
On third-and-goal from the San Francisco 3, Kirk Cousins was poised to deliver the kind of fourth-quarter touchdown that secures legacies. Instead, he ran around like a stunt double in a Marx Brothers movie, directing wrong-way traffic and lining up under right guard Olisaemeka Udoh for an imaginary snap before burning a critical timeout.
He promptly overthrew Justin Jefferson in the back of the end zone with nine minutes remaining. Although the 49ers missed a subsequent field goal, they drained enough clock to hamstring Minnesota’s final comeback attempt.
The officials did their part, too.
A blatant defensive pass interference on K.J. Osborn was somehow missed on that final, futile drive. Coach Mike Zimmer later howled 49ers blockers were holding all afternoon. Before Cousins’ clown show, he threw low to Adam Thielen, who cleanly picked the ball and pinned it to his facemask.
However, the play was ruled incomplete. Zimmer challenged. Replays clearly showed Thielen’s magic trick. But the call was upheld after the review. The league reflexively tweeted there was no “clear and obvious visual evidence to overturn the call on the field.”
I’m as much a Vikings homer as Jackie Mason was a Catholic. But this was a gaslighting cop-out that insults everyone’s intelligence. Tight end Ty Conklin quickly made up the yardage with a clutch third-down catch.
However, the failed challenge later cost the Vikings another pivotal timeout, forcing them to burn their last one during the all-consuming drive San Francisco started at its 4-yard line.
There was plenty more to unpack.
Like the 21 points the 49ers laid down during a five-minute span over halftime – a stretch in which Minnesota ran just three offensive plays. That is 66 points the Vikings have allowed in the final two minutes of the first half, the most by any NFL team in the last 21 years.
The defense was sucking wind before it lost linebacker Anthony Barr to a leg injury in the third quarter. Down to janitors on the front four, their battle for a wild-card berth has become an episode of “The Walking Dead.”
Meanwhile, Cousins looked as shaky physically and mentally as he has throughout his remarkable season. Two interceptions countered a pair of touchdown strikes to Thielen. And why was Jefferson, coming off two wins in which he had double-digit receptions and more than 140 yards, only targeted nine times resulting in four catches?
Running back Dalvin Cook suffered a shoulder injury that was serious enough for him to be carted off the field after his fumble spoon-fed the 49ers premium field position for their insurance field goal.
Cook joins the offensive infirmary with left tackle Christian Darrisaw, plus defensive linemen Michael Pierce, Everson Griffen, Danielle Hunter and, now, Barr.
The Vikings travel next week to winless Detroit, the NFL’s ultimate get-well destination. Two games against the hapless Chicago Bears and reeling Pittsburgh Steelers set them up to successfully control their playoff destiny.
But you know damn well it will be a mad scramble.
Keep the tumbler full of your favorite liquor. Cool the forehead rag. Draw the warm bath. Call the therapist. And breathe. Remember, it's just a game. Unscripted entertainment of the highest value.
If you can take it.
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Nice recap, Murph! We're a middle of the pack team... I suspect we will lose to either the Kitties, Da Bears or both.
Great job Murph. Thinking about taking the American flag down and replacing it with a white flag. This team is going nowhere and the foot is on the gas pedal.