Minnesota Vikings: Studs and duds vs. 49ers in Divisional Round

Stud: Forcing defensive turnovers

Minnesota was able to get to San Francisco quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo to some extent, forcing him into one interception when Vikings linebacker Eric Kendricks forced the turnover for the Minnesota defense. The Vikings’ ability to force turnovers to try and set up the offense was another bright spot.

The Vikings defense was also able to recover one fumble in the contest, when linebacker Anthony Barr recovered a fumble from 49ers running back Matt Breida.

There wasn’t a lot that went right for the Vikings in the loss to the 49ers on Saturday evening at Levi’s Stadium, but the fact that they were able to force San Francisco into a few turnovers was at least a bright spot.

Dud: Dalvin Cook

Perhaps the biggest dud for Minnesota on Saturday was running back Dalvin Cook. Cook’s dominance throughout the year has played a huge role to the success in both the running game and overall offensive attack for Minnesota during the 2019 campaign, and that was once again the case for the Vikings in their win over the Saints last weekend in the Wild Card Round.

This week, however, against a tough 49ers defense, Cook had perhaps his worst game of the season in the biggest game and that hurt Minnesota on the offensive end, limiting it to being able to really get anything going offensively.

Cook finished the game with just nine carries, finishing the contest with a total of 18 yards on the ground. Overall as a rushing unit, the Vikings ran the ball 10 times for 21 yards and no touchdowns. That kind of performance is not going to get you very far in any game, let alone a playoff game on the road against a tough defense on the other end of the field.