Minnesota
San Francisco 49ers 17, Minnesota Vikings 23: Grades
MINNEAPOLIS — The 49ers just lost 23-17 on the road to the Minnesota Vikings. Here are the 49ers’ grades for this embarrassment.
BROCK PURDY: B-MINUS
He got sacked six times and still posted a passer rating of 101.3, which is impressive. Plus he led the offense down the field twice in the fourth quarter. But he turned the ball over twice — one interception, one fumble that looked like an interception. Plus he nearly threw a pick on his final pass of the game. At times, he looked like a robot, mindlessly following Kyle Shanahan’s orders. Purdy used to be a playmaker who would confidently spin away from pressure and ad-lib. Today, he just went down. He still is a good quarterback, but not a great one, and paying him $60 million per season would be insane. He’s only dominant when he’s surrounded by six All Pros. Today, he had merely five All Pros to lean on.
RUNNING BACKS: A-MINUS
Jordan Mason rushed 20 times for 100 yards and 1 touchdown — he was the offensive MVP for the second game in a row. Unfortunately for the 49ers, none of their other running backs gained a yard on the ground. Mason is their only rushing threat. If he goes down, they’re in major trouble.
WIDE RECEIVERS: B-MINUS
Deebo Samuel had 8 catches for 110 yards — he was good. Brandon Aiyuk was invisible for most of the game. He finished with four catches for 43 yards and an illegal formation penalty. I guess $30 million per season doesn’t get you as much as it used to. His backup, Jauan Jennings, had 37 receiving yards.
TIGHT ENDS: A-MINUS
George Kittle had 7 catches for 76 yards and 1 touchdown despite briefly leaving the game with leg cramps. He has to be a future Hall of Famer. He’s as good at breaking tackles as any tight end I’ve seen other than Rob Gronkowski.
OFFENSIVE LINEMEN: C-MINUS
They performed well in the run game but they were putrid in pass protection as Purdy got sacked six times. And many of the sacks came off the left side where Trent Williams plays. He also had a penalty. It’s interesting how McCaffrey makes this group look better than it is.
DEFENSIVE LINEMEN: C-PLUS
Nick Bosa had two sacks, but collectively the 49ers gave up 146 yards on the ground. They couldn’t stop backup running back Ty Chandler, nor could they keep Sam Darnold in the pocket — he rushed 5 times for 32 yards.
LINEBACKERS: A
Fred Warner was the best player on the field. He intercepted Darnold and forced a fumble at the goal line to save a touchdown. He’s the only reason the 49ers didn’t get flat-out humiliated in this game. He’s a legitimate candidate to win the Defensive Player of the Year Award.
DEFENSIVE BACKS: F
They gave up a passer rating of 109.1 to Sam Freaking Darnold, which is unacceptable considering Justin Jefferson left the game early and Jordan Addison didn’t even play. Both George Odum and Isaac Yiadom were liabilities who should have been benched but weren’t because Kyle Shanahan doesn’t trust young players. More on him in a minute.
SPECIAL TEAMS: D-MINUS
They had a punt blocked and Jacob Cowing also muffed one but the 49ers recovered it. Special teams have been a problem since last season and the 49ers still haven’t fixed it.
COACHES: F
On defense, the 49ers gave up just 23 points, but also allowed the Vikings to convert 7 of 12 third downs. Through two games, the 49ers “elite” defense has given up a third-down conversion rate of 59. Last season under defensive coordinator , they gave up a third-down conversion percentage of 42.5, which was awful. Now, they’re even worse, which bodes poorly for rookie defensive coordinator Nick Sorensen. He needs to let Charvarius Ward follow the opposing team’s no. 1 wide receiver every week, because teams are mostly avoiding him this season. But Sorensen isn’t the reason the 49ers lost this game — Kyle Shanahan is. He got severely outcoached by Kevin O’Connell and Brian Flores. Shanahan clearly had the better players, and yet he showed very little creativity without McCaffrey on the field. His pass patterns were no good and his protection schemes got exposed. This is the second year in a row he has traveled to Minnesota and scored just 17 points, which means he learned nothing from last year. Shanahan is incapable of growth. He’s the biggest reason the 49ers ultimately won’t win the Super Bowl.
Minnesota
Shorthanded Clippers can’t keep pace with Anthony Edwards and Minnesota
Anthony Edwards scored 31 points, Donte DiVincenzo added 18 and the surging Minnesota Timberwolves beat the Clippers 94-88 on Thursday night.
Jaden McDaniels and Ayo Dosunmu each scored 12 points and Rudy Gobert had 13 rebounds to help the Timberwolves improve to 5-1 since Feb. 9 and 3-1 since the All-Star break.
Edwards, returning to the site of the All-Star Game, where he was the MVP, was 12 for 24 from the floor and sealed the victory with a step-back three-pointer over two defenders for a 92-88 lead with 42.9 seconds left.
Minnesota improved to 2-0 on a three-game trip.
Derrick Jones Jr. scored 18 points and Bennedict Mathurin added 14 for the Clippers, who struggled from the outset with a season-low 38 points in the first half. Kris Dunn had 11 points for the Clippers (27-31), who have lost three consecutive games for the first time since December.
The Clippers struggled on offense without star Kawhi Leonard, out because of ankle soreness. The Clippers shot 40.5% from the floor, including 18.2% (four for 22) in the second quarter. Minnesota shot 43.4% in the game.
The Timberwolves (37-23) scored just 15 points in the second quarter and still topped the Clippers, who had 11. Minnesota led 44-38 at halftime behind 12 points from DiVincenzo and 11 from Edwards.
The Clippers led by six in the third quarter and were up 68-63 heading into the fourth. Edwards’ drive and reverse layup put the Timberwolves up for good at 76-74 with 7:40 remaining.
The Clippers pulled within one three times in the last 2½ minutes, but Edwards answered each time. He scored the Timberwolves’ last nine points.
Up next for Clippers: vs. New Orleans on Sunday night.
Minnesota
Church congregant filed lawsuit against alleged Minnesota church protesters
A St. Paul church member has filed a federal lawsuit alleging that a group of individuals, including journalist Don Lemon and activist Nekima Levy Armstrong, unlawfully disrupted service last month as part of a coordinated political demonstration.
The complaint, filed by Ann Doucette in the U.S. District Court of Minnesota, alleges that a Jan. 18 demonstration at Cities Church interfered with her ability to worship and caused her to suffer damages, including emotional distress and trauma.
In addition to the former CNN anchor and Armstrong, the complaint names journalist Georgia Fort and activists Will Kelly, Jerome Richardson, Trahern Crews and Jamael Lundy. It also names St. Paul school board member Chauntyll Allen.
Doucette and seven of the defendants did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Doucette filed the complaint without the representation of an attorney. In an emailed statement to NBC News, Crews denied the lawsuit’s allegations “with empathy and compassion.”
The lawsuit accuses the group of civil conspiracy, aiding and abetting, intentional infliction of emotional distress, interference with religious exercise and trespassing.
“As a result of Defendants’ actions, the worship service was disrupted, congregants experienced fear and distress, and Plaintiff’s ability to freely exercise her religion in a private place of worship was unlawfully interfered with,” the lawsuit states.
All eight defendants are also facing federal charges for conspiracy against the rights of religious freedom at a place of worship and for interfering with the exercise of the right of religious freedom. Lemon has pleaded not guilty to all charges, saying outside the court, “I wanted to say this isn’t just about me, this is about all journalists, especially in the United States.”
Fort, Crews and Lundy were released on bond and entered not guilty pleas, according to The Associated Press.
This is the latest legal action tied to protests in the Twin Cities, where tensions remain over the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown and the fatal shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti.
According to the lawsuit, the demonstrators engaged in “coordinated conduct” by organizing meetings ahead of the “Operation Pullup” protest and promoting it on social media.
The lawsuit alleges that on the morning of Jan. 18, a coordinated group of individuals entered Cities Church, halting the worship service, and chanting “‘ICE Out!’ and ‘Hands Up, Don’t Shoot!’” while obstructing aisles. Protesters could allegedly be seen “confronting the pastor and congregants in a menacing manner,” the lawsuit says, noting that their chanting and “aggressive gestures” caused “severe emotional distress, fear, anxiety, and trauma” and caused children “terror.”
Demonstrators gathered at the church because they said its pastor, David Easterwood, was the acting director of an ICE field office in the city, the lawsuit says.
Lemon was arrested in January in California and accused of violating federal civil rights law after covering the protest on Jan. 18. He was released on a personal recognizance bond before a federal grand jury in Minnesota returned the indictment against Lemon and eight co-defendants, all of whom are also named in Doucette’s lawsuit.
In the lawsuit, Doucette alleges that Lemon specifically livestreamed the protest, “noting congregants’ fear and distress, and appeared to take satisfaction in the disruption.”
Levy Armstrong, a Minneapolis-based civil rights attorney and activist, was also arrested for her participation in the St. Paul protest. Her arrest drew national attention after the White House shared on social media doctored photos where she appeared to be crying.
Minnesota
Man arrested, charged with threatening to kill a state senator
A Hubbard County man was arrested and charged after threatening to kill a Minnesota state senator on Facebook.
Court documents filed on Wednesday state the Minnesota State Patrol were investigating a threat posted by John Tobias saying that he would “kill every one of you treasonous [expletive] immediately” if he did not get money back that he claims he lost during the 2020 COVID shutdown.
Court documents go on to say that Tobias then called the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office asking for something to be done about “Minnesota Governor Tim Walz ‘unconstitutionally’ shutting down the state due to COVID-19.
The Minnesota State Patrol contacted Hubbard County deputies regarding Tobias. Court documents state Hubbard County investigators were already familiar with Tobais after speaking with him regarding similar threats he made in Jan.
The charging documents state that investigators searched Tobias’ residence on Tuesday and found an arsenal of guns and 45 boxes of ammunition.
Tobias was taken into custody. During an interview with law enforcement, Tobias admitted to making the threat on Facebook. He also told investigators that “he did not have any intention of killing anyone, but admitted he was trying to get people’s attention,” according to court records.
In late 2025, Lt. Col. Jeremy Geiger of the Minnesota State Patrol, who oversees Capitol security, told a panel of lawmakers that threats to lawmakers had doubled between 2024 and 2025.
Tobias made his first court appearance Wednesday morning and is expected back in court early next month.
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