The road to the Super Bowl in the NFC goes through San Francisco.
The 49ers took care of business at home today in a 27-10 win over the Vikings, and now they’ll prepare to host the NFC Championship Game next week against the winner of tomorrow’s Seahawks-Packers game.
San Francisco’s defense was the story of the game. Aside from a first-quarter 41-yard touchdown pass from Kirk Cousins to Stefon Diggs, the Vikings’ offense could do absolutely nothing. Cousins was under relentless pressure, and after the 49ers benched cornerback Ahkello Witherspoon for giving up that touchdown and replaced him with Emmanuel Moseley, Diggs was shut down.
The 49ers’ front four was relentless, both rushing Cousins and stopping the Vikings’ running game, which never got anything going all day. Cousins was sacked six times and intercepted once. It was a complete effort from San Francisco’s defense.
The San Francisco offense was far from perfect, as Jimmy Garoppolo had an ugly interception and a couple of other plays in which he appeared to misread the coverage. But once they had a late lead, they were able to control the game with Tevin Coleman and Raheem Mostert running the ball.
Whether they face the Packers or the Seahawks next, the 49ers are likely to get a tougher test than they got today. But the 49ers will certainly be favored in the NFC Championship Game. This looks like a Super Bowl team.
