49ers, Vikings face off in playoffs.
Top-seeded 49ers to host Vikings in long-awaited first playoff game at Levi’s Stadium
SANTA CLARA >> They teased about this day seven long years ago, when gold-plated shovels went into Silicon Valley dirt to break ground on Levi’s Stadium.
Linebacker Patrick Willis, attending that 2012 groundbreaking, was asked if he could envision playoff games at the 49ers’ next home. Willis, still “ecstatic” over his first playoff trip the previous season at Candlestick Park, said “to experience that here, it’ll be outstanding and I can’t wait.”
The wait is over for the 49ers, even if Willis and so many others are long gone. A playoff game finally will be held at their “great football cathedral,” as proclaimed by Jim Harbaugh at the groundbreaking ceremony.
“Honestly, every seat that’s in the stadium is going to be filled, especially now that we’re thriving and winning,” running back Raheem Mostert said this week. “My favorite part is having the fans just as geeked up as
I am when I’m going out there to play.”
If the top-seeded 49ers beat the No. 6 Minnesota Vikings, Levi’s Stadium will host the NFC Championship Game next Sunday for a Super Bowl LIV berth in Miami on Feb. 2.
The last time the 49ers hosted a playoff game: Jan. 12, 2013, when Colin Kaepernick ran for 181 yards, passed for 263 more and produced four touchdowns against the Green Bay Packers — at Candlestick Park.
That 2012 team went on to reach the Super Bowl. This one should, too. And this one is evoking memories of the last time the 49ers launched a championship dynasty, when their 1981 team also earned the No. 1 seed with a 13-3 record under a third-year coach (see: Walsh, Bill).
Party-pooper alert: Walsh’s 1987 49ers lost at home to a sixth-seeded Vikings team that, like this year’s version, was coming off a wild-card at New Orleans.
Here are five ways coach Kyle Shanahan’s modernday 49ers can win this longawaited playoff opener: WIN THE TURNOVER BATTLE >> Giving the ball away would make for an easy explanation of a potential upset. So … “We have a meeting every week about ball security and how the ball is everything,” Mostert said. “We don’t expect that to change because it’s the playoffs.”
Quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo went without an interception in four of the past six games. That won’t erase concerns for the occasional, what-theheck interception. But even if he throws one, he’s shown a brilliant ability to rebound. In drives after interceptions, Garoppolo is 36 of 39 for 429 yards with two touchdowns, no interceptions and a 129.6 passer rating, per the Elias Sports Bureau.
To help Garoppolo’s ball security, he’ll need offensive tackles Joe Staley and Mike McGlinchey to stymie Vikings veteran pass rushers Danielle Hunter and Everson Griffen.
The 49ers lost 10 fumbles in the regular season, half by Garoppolo and the remaining five on their 498 rushing attempts.
STOP DALVIN COOK >> Of the Vikings’ vast array of offensive threats, their greatest is running back Dalvin Cook. Of the 49ers’ greatest attributes, their run defense “hasn’t been our strong suit throughout the year,” defensive tackle DeForest Buckner said.
The 49ers need Buckner and the front to slow Cook enough for the 49ers’ linebackers to rush in and finish. If Cook gets rolling, that will allow Kirk Cousins’ play-action passing to suck in the defense and lead to more issues.
“Not many people can maintain the speed he does through contact,” defensive end Nick Bosa said of Cook. “He makes cuts, doesn’t slow down and is physical. We’ve played good back but not him so we have to bring it.”
Cook had a season-high 28 carries (plus three receptions) Sunday in New Orleans, a hefty workload after resting with a shoulder injury the final two regular-season games.
Linebacker Kwon Alexander is coming off injured reserve and testing his repaired pectoral tendon, most likely in a parttime role next to leading tackler Fred Warner and rookie Dre Greenlaw, the 49ers’ goal-line-tackle hero in Seattle. Don’t discount how solid the 49ers’ defensive backs have been in run support.
RUN TO GLORY >> Garoppolo surely will air it out and exploit mismatches for tight end George Kittle and receivers Emmanuel Sanders and Deebo Samuel. Plus there will be Kendrick Bourne on third downs and in the red zone. The Vikings’ cornerbacks are simply suspect.
But the 49ers’ bread and butter is their rushing attack, ranked second to only Baltimore’s. The Vikings run defense has a tougher chore than what the Saints proposed, with Alvin Kamara limited to 21 yards Sunday.
“We have three different running backs that have over 500 yards, and a couple running backs with three or four touchdowns apiece,” Mostert said. “It’s all about scheme and the Oline doing a great job blocking for us.”
TIGHT END DAY? >> When the league-wide “holiday” of National Tight End Day happened in October, Kittle helped lead a rout of the Carolina Panthers. Truth is, the “National Tight End Day” saying is a weekly event that Garoppolo started saying in 2018 to fire up his ‘mates.
Well, Kittle’s playoff opener could make him an even bigger star than he’s become. A two-time Pro Bowler and All-Pro, Kittle should be able to win his matchups and Shanahan should be able to scheme him open, as usual. The tough assignment to cover Kittle could fall on All-Pro safety Harrison Smith if linebackers Anthony Barr and Eric Kendricks are preoccupied watching the 49ers’ rushers and fullback Kyle Juszczyk.
Only one touchdown has been scored by a tight end against the Vikings this season: by the Broncos’ Troy Fumagalli, not by the Chiefs’ Travis Kelce (62 yards) nor the Eagles’ Zach Ertz (54 yards).
While this is Kittle’s playoff debut, Vikings counterpart Kyle Rudolph advanced to his sixth playoff game by catching the game-winning touchdown pass Sunday at New Orlans. His 47 career touchdowns are fourth-most among active tight ends, and he has three in three games against the 49ers.
NO STAGE FRIGHT >> December’s five-game grind came complete with down-tothe-wire, pressure-packed finishes for the 49ers, not to mention vital wins at New Orleans and Seattle to lock up the No. 1 seed. All that bodes well for this upcoming playoff baptism for 39 players on the roster.
“We’ve said it throughout the entire season, I think it’s going to help us going forward,” Garoppolo said. “As far as the experience with it, I think just we don’t have to deal with the noise and things like that. It will be a little different at home, just the energy, the intensity that’s out there.”
Garoppolo won two Super Bowl rings in 3 1/2 seasons before the New England Patriots, and his playoff-game experience consists of two handoffs to cap an AFC Championship Game rout. Wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders and cornerback Richard Sherman are the only other 49ers who’ve won a Super Bowl, with the Pittsburgh Steelers and Seattle Seahawks, respectively.
“The last five games of the year, they all felt like playoff games, because you really like all the good you’ve done to get to where you’re at, and none of it matters until you clinched the playoff spot,” Shanahan said. “Now we’re just ready to get to this game.”