Healthy San Francisco defense finds way to stifle Minnesota
SANTA CLARA, Calif. — The 49ers defense was back intact Saturday.
And the full-strength unit made the Vikings look historically weak.
With a boost from the return of three injured defensive starters, the 49ers hammered the Vikings 27-10 in a divisional-playoff game at Levi’s Stadium, their first postseason contest in the venue’s six-season history.
The 49ers had one fewer sack than the Minnesota had first downs (seven). Rookie defensive end Nick Bosa, who had two of their six sacks, said the 49ers followed the instructions of defensive line coach Kris Kocurek.
“That’s one of Kris’ things — put the foot on the throat and twist it,” Bosa said. “When you have somebody down, you definitely don’t want to let up.”
With Pro Bowl edge rusher Dee Ford, inside linebacker Kwon Alexander and safety Jaqusiki Tartt back after missing a total 17 games, the 49ers resembled the impenetrable defense they boasted in their first seven games when they allowed an average of 11 points.
The Vikings, who scored the eighth-most points in the NFL, had seven first downs and 147 yards.
Their first-down total matched the second-fewest in a postseason game in the Super Bowl era. Their yardage total was the 10th-lowest in a playoff game since 1990.
“They got after us, for sure,” Vikings guard Pat Elfein said. “We couldn’t get anything moving … They built their team around that front seven and we got beat today.”
The 49ers will host the winner of Sunday’s game between Green Bay and Seattle in the NFC Championship Game on Jan. 19.
There’s a good chance the 49ers will be playing in next month’s Super Bowl if they can reprise Saturday’s defensive performance.
After tying the score 7-7 on a 41yard touchdown pass from Kirk Cousins to Stefon Diggs in the first quarter, the Vikings barely budged. They managed eight net yards and one first down on their next seven drives. The result: They had four first downs and 81 yards with 4:32 remaining.
At that point it was garbage time, which the 49ers might have forgotten existed: Their final five regular-season games were decided in the final nine seconds.
“It’s nice not to have a heart-attack game,” left tackle Joe Staley.
Cousins, fresh off an upset wildcard win over the Saints he punctuated with his trademark phrase, “You like that?” didn’t like anything Saturday. And neither did Pro Bowl back Dalvin Cook, who had 26 yards on 15 touches.
The 49ers had 186 rushing yards on a season-high 47 carries, led by running back Tevin Coleman (105 yards, two touchdowns). With the defense in command, quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, who had a career-low 19 pass attempts.