Minnesota

San Francisco 49ers 17, Minnesota Vikings 23: Grades

Published

3 months ago

September 15, 2024

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.

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Minnesota

Minnesota high school sports scores and results for Saturday, Dec. 28

Published

8 hours ago

December 29, 2024

Press Room

Minnesota high school sports scores and results for Saturday, Dec. 28

• Mankato East 81, Alexandria 77, OT

• Martin Luther/GHEC/Truman 63, United South Central 45

• Minnesota Valley Lutheran 74, Mankato Loyola 66

• Moorhead 84, Fargo Shanley (N.D.) 48

• Mountain Iron-Buhl 49, Hillcrest Lutheran 39

• Nashwauk-Keewatin 63, Chisholm 55

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Minnesota

Former Minnesota Senate leader Kari Dziedzic passes away

Published

16 hours ago

December 28, 2024

Press Room

Former Minnesota Senate leader Kari Dziedzic passes away

House furthers push to require insurance coverage for cancer patients who need wigs

01:58

ST. PAUL, Minn. — Former Minnesota DFL Senate leader Kari Dziedzic passed away Friday after a long battle with caner.

Her family released a statement on Saturday saying Dziedzic “entered eternal life surrounded by her family” and “Kari will be remembered by her family and those she served for her enthusiastic and humble leadership, which inspired all who knew her. She had a heart of gold, willing to go to any measure to help those she loved.”

Dziedzic stepped down as the Minnesota Senate Majority leader in Feb. of this year, after learning her cancer had returned. She was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in early 2023.

Dziedzic’s personal health struggles prompted a policy proposal: Health insurance should cover wigs for cancer patients. Her bill requires insurance coverage with a doctor’s prescription for wigs up to $1,000 per year. The bill is set to go into effect on Jan. 1.

Dziedzic was tapped to take over the DFL leadership role after they secured a one-seat majority in the senate in 2022. During the 2023 session, under her leadership, legislators swiftly passed laws codifying abortion rights, securing school meals for Minnesota students and expanding voting rights for prior felons.

Dziedzic is survived by her mother, five siblings and their spouses and her nieces and nephews. Her family is requesting privacy at this time.

Note: The above video originally aired in March 2024.

Caroline Cummings

Caroline Cummings is an Emmy-winning reporter with a passion for covering politics, public policy and government. She is thrilled to join the WCCO team.

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Minnesota Senate Minority Leader Mark Johnson says legislative session will have 'a lot going on'

Published

1 day ago

December 28, 2024

Press Room

Minnesota Senate Minority Leader Mark Johnson says legislative session will have 'a lot going on'

EAST GRAND FORKS — As Minnesota lawmakers head into their legislative session, working to pass the next state budget likely will be the biggest item on their agenda, according to Senate Minority Leader Mark Johnson.

“Especially if we start off slow with these court cases, I’m not planning a vacation in June,” said Johnson, a Republican from East Grand Forks. “There are a lot of needs in this state — not just in my district but across the state — but given the issues with the budget right now … there’s going to be a lot going on down in St. Paul.”

The Legislature convenes Jan. 14 for its 94th session. The Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor party has a one-seat majority in the Senate, and the House of Representatives is expected to be tied at 67. While a

power-sharing agreement — with both DFL and Republican chairs

on all committees — has been discussed, two ongoing court cases mean unknowns remain on final majorities.

“We don’t know when those are going to be resolved,” Johnson said. “The House might be in a little bit of limbo trying to figure out who’s going to be leading.”

Two cases — one

regarding discarded ballots in a close representative race in Shakopee

and another challenging the residency of a Roseville representative — are working their way through Minnesota court.

If a DFL-Republican tie does end up being the case on Jan. 14, there’s legal and constitutional ambiguity about whether co-speakers of the House could exist. A tie has only happened one other time in Minnesota, in 1979. At that time, the Independent Republican Party gained the speakership and the DFL chaired the rules, taxes and appropriations committees. It created

chaotic final days of the session.

There’s also the case of Sen. Nicole Mitchell, DFL-Woodbury, who has been

accused of burglary in Becker County court and has a jury trial scheduled for the end of January.

There have been calls for her resignation, but others have stressed that she hasn’t yet had her day in court.

“So even before we get into the budget cycle, there are all these dynamics going on behind the scenes,” Johnson said. “That’s triggered some interesting conversations of a few Democrats in the Senate.”

Even disregarding the controversies, the Legislature will be tasked with creating and passing a budget for the next two-year biennium.

The last budget, passed in 2023, was only the

eighth budget in 40 years that was passed before the regular session’s

constitutional end date of the Monday after the third Saturday in May. This year, that date is May 19. If a budget isn’t passed by then, Gov. Tim Walz will have to call a special session; if a budget isn’t passed by June 30, the government will shut down. That last occurred in 2011.

With the Minnesota Management and Budget Office

saying that the state has a structural imbalance

and as costs increase for long-term care and special education, Johnson said the Legislature needs to look at policy fixes.

“There are some policy things that we could be doing going forward that would really help out and fix what the Democrats have been doing over the last two years with that extreme policy,” he said. “Minnesotans are paying for (it) every single day and we can address and make this government more effective and efficient, and we can make it cheaper and better for people in Minnesota to live here.”