Season Over! Vikings Dominated On Line Of Scrimmage.

You could tell early on that it was going to be a struggle.  Most games are won on the line of scrimmage.  The Vikings were losing the "push" on both sides of the ball.  That led to no running game, which made the play action pass ineffective and kept Kirk Cousins on his back for most of the game.  The Vikings QB was sacked six times in fact.

Coming into their NFC Divisional Playoff game against the San Francisco 49ers, the Minnesota Vikings appeared to have some momentum on their side in their quest to advance to a second NFC Championship��Game in three years.

The Niners could not possibly have cared less.

The NFC’s #1 seed simply dominated on the front line on both sides of the football on Saturday afternoon at Levi’s Stadium, thumping the Vikings by a final score of 27-10 and officially ending their season.

The Niners got on the board on their first possession after forcing a Minnesota three-and-out on the first drive of the game. San Francisco moved downfield with very little effort, and concluded the eight-play, 61-yard drive with a three-yard touchdown pass from Jimmy Garoppolo to Kendrick Bourne to give the home team an early 7-0 lead.

The Vikings answered with a score of their own on the next drive, this one coming on a very nice pitch-and-catch from Kirk Cousins to Stefon Diggs. On 3rd-and-2, Cousins lofted one to Diggs on the left sideline, and Diggs made a nice adjustment to come down with the ball and take it to the end zone to tie things at 7-7.  That was about it as the Vikings offensive and defensive lines fell apart after that.

Even when the Vikings managed to get stops, they had bad things happen, as Marcus Sherels muffed a 49ers punt late in the third quarter, with the Niners taking over at the Minnesota 8-yard line. The Vikings’ defense managed to limit the Niners to a 21-yard field goal from Gould to make it 27-10 on the second play of the fourth quarter.

That was how it ended, and the Vikings now head to an off season where they’ll have plenty of questions to answer.

First question is who will become the new offensive coordinator as Kevin Stafanski is now the new head coach of the Cleveland Browns.  How will the Vikings address their glaring concerns on the line, especially on the offensive side.  Do they offer QB Kirk Cousins an extension on his 3 year mega deal, which is set to expire next season?  How about our coach and GM who can't seem to get this team over the hump?  These and my more questions will play out over the next several months.  In the meantime, one last "SKOL"?!  No, I'm not in the mood either.