San Francisco, CA
49ers Humbled By Vikings Again: Top Takeaways From Sunday’s Loss
Kyle Shanahan and the San Francisco 49ers were a mistake waiting to happen on Sunday. (AP … [+]
The San Francisco 49ers still have not won in Minneapolis since all the way back in 1992.
San Francisco took to U.S. Bank Stadium on Sunday riding high on a short week following Monday’s win over the New York Jets. Kyle Shanahan’s squad ended up falling to the Minnesota Vikings by the score of 23-17 in a mistake-filled game.
Defensively, the 49ers gave up an absud 97-yard touchdown to star Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson. It was part of a broader lackluster effort for this unit.
Though, it was the 49ers’ offense that stood out in a bad way Sunday in Minnesota. Without star running back Christian McCaffrey, quarterback Brock Purdy looked lackluster. Meanwhile, the 49ers’ offensive line was overwhelmed by the scheme of Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores.
There certainly are a lot more questions than answers after this lackluster effort from the defending NFC champions.
Top Takeaways From 49ers Loss To The Vikings
From Purdy’s performance to the absence of McCaffrey and what we saw on defense, there are certainly a lot takeaways for the 49ers. As noted above, there are also a ton of questions. Let’s look at four takeaways here.
San Francisco 49ers Missed Christian McCaffrey
The 49ers certainly missed Christian McCaffrey on Sunday. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)
Yes, and the sun comes up in the morning. McCaffrey put up north of 2,000 total yards and 21 touchdowns for a reason last season. He’s among the most dominant skill-position players in the game.
That showed in his absence on Sunday. Sure, Jordan Mason put up triple-digit rushing yards for the second time in McCaffrey’s stead on Sunday. But the 49ers missed their starting running back in the passing game.
Mason caught just one pass for four yards on one target. Purdy missed him open on the flat at times, a clear indication that he doesn’t have the same connection with Mason as he does with McCaffrey.
CMC’s dual-threat ability made the 49ers’ offense nearly unstoppable last season. Without him in the mix on Sunday, that certainly was not the case.
Sloppy Play All The Way Around
Justin Jefferson’s 97-yard touchdown was a black eye for the 49ers. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)
San Francisco put up its sloppiest performance since a Week 16 loss to the Baltimore Ravens last season.
Purdy lost a fumble and threw an interception. Break downs from safeties George Odum and Ji’Ayir Brown led directly to the 49ers giving up the longest play in franchise history, that 97-yard touchdown from the aforementioned Jefferson.
A break down in punt coverage led directly to a long return and more points for the Vikings. This is not a winning formula. San Francisco’s head coach agrees.
“They (the Vikings) played really well, but it was too sloppy on our part,” Kyle Shanahan told reporters after the game.
Playing on a short week can lead to some iss]ues. But that’s not an excuse. Shanahan just didn’t have his team ready to play in this one.
49ers Overlooked The Vikings
This is an obvious takeaway. Fresh off a blowout win over the Jets, San Francisco simply overlooked what is now a pretty good Vikings team on the road. It’s extremely disappointing in the grand scheme of things.
Were the 49ers looking ahead to next week’s rivalry game against the Rams in Los Angeles? It’s possible. But it’s any given Sunday in the NFL. San Francisco found that out first hand.
Pass Protection Issues, Brock Purdy Struggles
Brock Purdy’s mistakes played a role in the 49ers loss. (AP Photo/Stacy Bengs)
After going down just two times in last week’s win over the Jets, Purdy was sacked a whopping six times. That included Pat Jones and Andrew Van Ginkel both getting to him for two sacks.
Schematically, Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores had his way with Shanahan from a play-calling perspective. That’s a rarity.
However, it’s the 49ers’ offensive line that deserves most of the blame here. It was, too, confused by what Flores threw at this unit. In particular, struggling right tackle Colton McKivitz continued to act as a turnstile. One now has to wonder if San Francisco looks outside of the organization for a replacement.
49ers Pass Rush Steps Up
Nick Bosa recorded his first two sacks of the season. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)
Nick Bosa had two sacks. Fred Warner added another. All said, San Francisco took down Sam Darnold four times in the loss.
For Bosa, this represented his first two sacks of the season. He’ll need to continue making an impact with San Francisco’s depth out on the edge in question.
As for Warner, he created two turnovers. That included an interceptions of Darnold with the Vikings driving and up 10-0. It led to San Francisco’s first touchdown of the game. Warner is the best defensive player in the NFL right now. It’s not necessarily that close. It’s also one positive takeaway from Sunday’s loss.
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As Colton McKivitz enters his seventh season with the 49ers, he has his sights set on a milestone that represents trust and commitment to the organization: reaching the organization’s 10-year wall and joining a list of names that includes legends Joe Montana and Bryant Young.
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The 2026 FIFA World Cup is underway, and tight end George Kittle is showing his support for Team USA. Following the 4-1 USA win over Paraguay, Kittle shared his excitement on social media tweeting “4 is good right?”
5 Things to Know: Offensive Lineman Enrique Cruz Jr.
The Chicago native adds size, athleticism, and versatility to the 49ers competitive offensive line room. Here are five things to know about Enrique Cruz Jr.
San Francisco, CA
Artwork quilt unveiled at San Francisco dirt alley that was mistakenly bought at auction
In the fall of 2025, CBS News Bay Area first brought you the story of a Sunset couple that had the winning bid for a piece of property next to their home. They thought they were getting the duplex next door. Instead, they got a small patch of land known as Dirt Alley.
This story has many chapters, but it ended with a community celebration.
The final chapter in the story of Dirt Alley was written Wednesday night as they unveiled the tiles of artwork on the pavement.
“I’m very happy today,” JJ Hollingsworth said. “It’s just amazing that these artists that I’ve been working with and sold the alley to have come through with this incredible art.”
JJ Hollingsworth was the original property owner. She took out $25,000 from her retirement to pay for this parcel in a city auction. She thought she got a bargain for the duplex next door. When she found out it was actually the alley, the stress led to health problems and a lot of anxiety.
“I’m trying to forget, but I caused all this,” she said. “That’s what happened. I caused all this.”
Then came an email that would help her get out of the Dirt Alley nightmare. A group of friends from San Francisco was interested in buying this 82-foot-long alley.
“I know she was really stressed out when she first bought this and kind of didn’t know what she was going to do with it,” Theo Bleier said. “It’s really lucky. We were going to buy a different parcel, and we lost the auction. It was more than we wanted to spend. We felt really lucky the coincidence worked out, and we were able to help out JJ.”
The new owners then had the idea of laying an artwork quilt on the pavement and took submissions online.
“I think we had about one million people visit the website at least,” owner Patrick Hultquist said. “1.2 million, I think is the number of people that visited the website.”
The tiles with the most votes made it onto what is now called Notion way.
“Now, it’s not an official name of the street. It’s an unofficial name, but we did get an official-looking sign,” he said.
JJ Hollingsworth, who is a music composer, wrote a ballad called Notion Way for the special occasion. What started as a horrible mistake ended up bringing the community together.
“It’s really beautiful,” neighbors Tom Goslinga & Nesha Niezrecki said. “It’s how culture gets created in a lot of ways. People kind of being creative with an interesting situation. It’s really cool.”
While Hollingsworth is grateful for how this story ended, she says she learned a valuable lesson from this whole experience.
“Read the fine print and ask a lot of questions,” she said.
SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) — A driver in a car riddled with bullets fled a Marin County Sheriff’s Office deputy at high speeds over the Golden Gate Bridge into San Francisco early Tuesday morning, according to authorities. The suspect, identified as Martin Zuniga Jr., 26, was later located in Novato and arrested.
The deputy first observed the suspect driving at approximately 100 mph on Highway 101 near the Richardson Bay Bridge. After pulling over the car, the deputy “noticed approximately 14 fresh bullet holes in the vehicle,” the sheriff’s office wrote. Zuniga allegedly told the deputy that he had just been involved in a road rage incident near Novato, but he refused to get out of the car and give a statement.
Zuniga “abruptly put the car into drive and fled the scene,” the sheriff’s office wrote.
The pursuit led to the Golden Gate Bridge, where the deputy disengaged due to unsafe speeds across the span, according to authorities. The car was later found abandoned on the streets of San Francisco.
At approximately 6 p.m., detectives located Zuniga in downtown Novato and placed him into custody. The sheriff’s office said at the time of the arrest that he was in possession of a loaded .40-caliber pistol with a high-capacity magazine and suspected cocaine.
Zuniga was booked into the Marin County Jail for:
- Reckless evading
- Violently resisting law enforcement
- Felon in possession of a firearm
- Felon in possession of ammunition
- Addict in possession of a firearm
Anyone with information regarding a shooting or road rage incident in the evening or early morning hours of June 15 and June 16 is asked to contact the Marin County Sheriff’s Office at 415-479-2311.
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