NFL Monday night: San Francisco 49ers lose again
The San Francisco 49ers swept through their first five games of the NFL’s 2023 season by outscoring their opponents 167-92.
But last week, the 49ers lost to the Cleveland Browns 19-17, and on Monday night, they couldn’t quite get off the mat in a 22-17 setback against the Minnesota Vikings.
When Minnesota’s Greg Joseph was wide right on a 50-yard field-goal attempt, San Francisco had a final opportunity to pull out the victory, with the football at its 40-yard line with 1:11 remaining.
The 49ers had reached the Minnesota 40 when safety Camryn Bynum intercepted San Francisco quarterback Brock Purdy at the Vikings 22-yard line with 25 seconds to play.
Bynum also had ended the 49ers’ previous possession with an interception at the Minnesota 30. Bynum entered the game with three interceptions in his three NFL seasons.
Purdy completed 21-of-30 passes for 272 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions. His TD pass was a 35-yard connection with running back Christian McCaffrey.
McCaffrey already has scored on a 3-yard run to extend his streak of games with a touchdown to 16.
Minnesota quarterback Kirk Cousins completed 34-of-45 passes for 378 yards with two touchdowns and one interception.
Cousins had TD passes of 20 and 60 yards to rookie Jordan Addison, who stepped into the spotlight with All-Pro wide receiver Justin Jefferson out with an injury. Addison had seven receptions for 123 yards before leaving the game with an injury.
The San Francisco-Minnesota game was one of the rare NFL contests in which no player from an Alabama high school or college was eligible to play, although the teams have four players with Alabama football roots on their rosters:
· Vikings running back DeWayne McBride (UAB) is on the practice squad.
· Forty-Niners tight end Cameron Latu (Alabama) is on injured reserve.
· Forty-Niners cornerback Darrell Luter Jr. (South Alabama) is on reserve/physically unable to perform.
· Vikings quarterback Nick Mullens (Spain Park) is on injured reserve.
On Sunday, Minnesota (3-4) visits the Green Bay Packers at noon CDT and San Francisco (5-2) hosts the Cincinnati Bengals at 3:25 p.m.
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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.