San Francisco 49ers show Super Bowl potential beating Vikings

The San Francisco 49ers looked the part of a Super Bowl contender in a dominant Divisional Round playoff win over the Vikings on Saturday.

As the No. 1 seed in the NFC, the San Francisco 49ers had Wild Card Weekend off while the Minnesota Vikings submitted one of the more impressive efforts of the early 2020 playoffs in upsetting the Saints in overtime. The question was if the Vikings could continue that effort as they headed to Levi’s Stadium for the Divisional Round.

Thanks to a supreme effort from Robert Saleh’s 49ers defense, the Minnesota magic did not continue. Dalvin Cook was held to only 18 yards rushing while Kirk Cousins was made to look pedestrian as San Francisco jumped out to a 14-10 halftime lead and turned it on in the final two quarters to earn a dominant 27-10 victory.

The biggest question about the 49ers entering the contest was quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo making the first playoff start of his career. While he did throw an interception at the end of the first half that allowed the Vikings to pull within four points on a field goal, Garoppolo wasn’t asked to do much and, frankly, didn’t need to.

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Instead, the Niners got back to their roots as a run-first team and it worked to perfection. Tevin Coleman led the way with 22 carries for 105 yards and two touchdowns while Raheem Mostert added 12 carries for 58 yards on the night. Kyle Shanahan flexed his schematics time and again by keeping the Vikings on their heels throughout the afternoon.

But as good as the rushing attack was, again, it was the defense that buoyed the 49ers in the dominant effort. Whether it was Richard Sherman coming up with a big interception, Nick Bosa, Solomon Thomas, Arik Armstead, Dee Ford and DeForest Buckner all coming up with sacks (six in total) or just generally bottling up the Minnesota offense, San Francisco put the clamps on in a massive way.

The way the 49ers played on Saturday afternoon showcased why they have the potential to win a Super Bowl. This team has the ability to spread the ball around to George Kittle, Deebo Samuel and the pass-catching weapons but they are near-unstoppable when their rushing attack and defense are controlling the action.

Of course, controlling the game in that manner isn’t going to be as easily done as they go to the NFC Championship Game and possibly to the Super Bowl as, assumedly, they’ll face better offenses and defenses.

However, seeing the top end of this San Francisco team on full display in the postseason — even with Garoppolo having a limited role — has to have everyone in the Bay Area thinking Super Bowl. And if the 49ers can replicate the effort they put forth moving forward, they might be right.