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| Other Week 3 Game Recaps | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ATL at NE | CAR at DAL | CHI at SEA | CLE at BAL | DEN at OAK | GB at STL | IND at ARI | JAX at HOU |
| KC at PHI | MIA at SD | NO at BUF | NYG at TB | PIT at CIN | SF at MIN | TEN at NYJ | WAS at DET |
Week 3 Game Recap: San Francisco 49ers 24, Minnesota Vikings 27
San Francisco 49ers
| QB Shaun Hill, Pass: 15 - 25 - 195 - 2 TD / 1 INT |
Shaun Hill opened the game with the ball being knocked out of his hands and resulting in a sack and a fumble. He spent the rest of the game trying to recover and keep the 49ers in a position to win the game. His go-to guy was Vernon Davis, going to him for Medium and long range passes. While Hill managed the offense well, and kept the 49ers in the game the whole time, he never really appeared to be in control of the game. He was never able to convert on 3rd downs (0-11), and threw several bad passes, including the interception where the receiver fell down leaving the defender all alone to make the pick. On the second TD pass to Davis, Hill made an excellent strike -- threading the needle between three defenders to take the lead with only 8 minutes to go. He was clearly out of sync without Gore running the ball and never really established a consistent rhythm for the offense. Fantasy wise, he had a solid game but you would not have thought so if you watched the game.
| RB Glen Coffee, Rush: 25 - 54 - 0 (1 targets) |
Glen Coffee took over the primary running back duties for Frank Gore when he left with an ankle Injury. He struggled for most of the game, but had one good series in the middle of the third quarter where he had back to back 12 and 13 yard runs. He was frequently stuffed at or behind the line of scrimmage and was not able to convert on any of the third and short opportunities that the 49ers had.
| RB Frank Gore, Rush: 1 - 4 - 0 (1 targets) |
On the first running play from scrimmage, Gore ran for four yards and injured his ankle. He limped of the field and was eventually carted off from the sidelines. He did not return.
| WR Josh Morgan, Rec: 4 - 47 - 0 (4 targets) |
Josh Morgan was the #1 Wide Receiver threat for the Vikings in this game. He had a great catch on 4th and 1 in the second quarter that set up the first TD pass to Vernon Davis. Hill threw a side arm pass to Morgan who was breaking toward the sideline. Morgan turned up field and tacked on another 12 yards before being pushed out of bounds. Morgan worked the side-lines for most of the game, and caught everything that Hill threw in his direction.
| WR Isaac Bruce, Rec: 2 - 38 - 0 (5 targets) |
Before the game, Shaun Hill described Isaac Bruce as his 'go to' guy, talking about how whenever you needed him, Bruce was always there. Too bad Hill didn't get him involved sooner as Bruce's only two catches came in the fourth quarter. The second catch was a nice 15 yard out that Bruce turned into a 28 yard gain with a nice move that made the defender miss and he was able to fight for additional yards up the middle. Aside from that, Bruce was not a factor in this game.
| TE Vernon Davis, Rec: 7 - 96 - 2 (10 targets) |
Vernon Davis was the star of the game for the Vikings. He found the weak spots of the Viking's defense, and worked the field like some of the NFL elite receivers. On his first TD catch, Hill rolled out and Davis was able to separate himself from the defense to make a great reaching catch and put the 49ers back in the game. On the second TD catch, he split three defenders to haul in a 20 yard TD that looked like it would be the game winner for San Francisco. He was Hill's favorite target, working the open spots over the middle and turning short passes into medium gains and medium passes into big yardage chunks. He also had the hit of the game on Cedric Griffin while Blocking for Josh Morgan's 12 yard catch in the second quarter.
Minnesota Vikings
| QB Brett Favre, Pass: 24 - 46 - 301 - 2 TD / 1 INT, Rush: 1 - 1 - 0 |
Favre proved that he still has it for an NFL QB with a 300 yard passing game, and a key 80 yard drive with 1:29 left and no timeouts to win the game. Early in the game, Farve was spot on. The 49ers were blitzing in an attempt to put pressure on Favre. Every time they blitzed, Farve found the open receiver or checked down to Chester Taylor and ate up the 49er defense. He managed the clock well for the game, frequently snapping the ball with one or two seconds on play clock. On their second series, Farve hit Sidney Rice on a perfect slant for a 30 yard TD strike. He worked the field with Percy Harvin and Bernard Berrian for most of the game, and looked to Rice when he wanted to go down the field. For the most part, Favre was content to dink and dunk with short, quick passes over the middle or behind the line of scrimmage on a screen. He was less accurate when he went down the field, overthrowing WRS in some cases and hitting Rice on one sideline pass but about 2 yards out of bounds. On the final drive, with the game on the line, Favre was in total control. He took the underneath passes that the defense gave him and worked the sidelines better than anyone. On the final play, he hung tough and took a vicious hit on the perfect pass. He did not even see the completion. Yet when the dust had finally settled, Favre had 300 yards passing and the Vikings were 3--0.
| RB Adrian Peterson, Rush: 19 - 85 - 0, Rec: 2 - 14 - 0 (2 targets) |
The 49ers came into the game with the intention to keep Peterson in check. Aside from one running play where Peterson bounced to the outside for a 35 yard gain where he ran away from the defense, the Niners succeeded in their plan. Peterson has several short and medium gains at various points in the game, but was stuffed for a loss almost as often as he had a solid run. He did not have any red-zone opportunities because the Vikings two key scores were from 30 yards out. Peterson was also pulled on the second and long and third and long situations for Chester Taylor, further contributing to his 'average' fantasy performance.
| RB Chester Taylor, Rush: 6 - 16 - 0, Rec: 7 - 70 - 0 (8 targets) |
Taylor was frequently brought in on second and long and third and long situations to help bolster the passing attack. Favre checked down to him multiple times and ran a few designed screens when the defense was blitzing, leading to Taylor running for several medium and long gains. When running the ball, he was very limited in his effectiveness. His longest run was only eight yards from scrimmage early in the third quarter and he had only short yardage gains and losses aside from that.
| WR Percy Harvin, Rush: 1 - -8 - 0, Rec: 4 - 51 - 0 (9 targets) |
Harvin has scored a TD in each of his first three games as a rookie. While he did not reach the end zone on the offensive side of the ball, Harvin had a spectacular 101 yard TD return in the third quarter. After the 49ers kicked a FG to extend their lead to 17-13, Harvin took the following kickoff untouched up the middle of the field for a game-changing TD. On the final drive, Farve hooked up with Harvin twice on key third downs, extending the drive and putting the Vikings in a position to win. When he had the ball, Harvin attacked the defense again, fighting hard for every yard and making the most of every opportunity. He's a star player who is coming into his own and is an excellent complement to Adrian Peterson.
| WR Sidney Rice, Rec: 4 - 56 - 1 (7 targets) |
Found his stride early in the game with a 30 yard TD strike from Brett Favre to put the Vikings up 7-0. At the time, it was the longest pass play for the Vikings this season and it was Rice's first TD reception for the year as well. Rice was the deep threat for the Vikings the rest of the game. When Favre wanted to go down field, Rice was the guy he looked for. He hauled in a 26 yard reception early in the 4th quarter that was called back because Favre was beyond the line of scrimmage and on the final TD drive, Rice was the target of a deep sideline pass but was several steps out of bounds when he finally made the catch.
| WR Bernard Berrian, Rec: 4 - 56 - 0 (9 targets) |
Berrian had identical stats to Sidney Rice (except for the TD), but it was Rice that had the better game. Berrian dropped several balls that were thrown his way early in the game and tipped another pass that was intercepted by the Niners early in the third quarter. Berrian never really synced up with Favre, but they connected a total of four times for the game, including a short sideline route that set up the final TD pass to Lewis. Berrian also took over punt return duties when Darius Reynaud left the game with a hamstring injury early in the third quarter.
| TE Visanthe Shiancoe, Rec: 2 - 22 - 0 (5 targets) |
Shiancoe's first catch was with 46 seconds left in the second quarter. He was targeted a couple times earlier in the game but he dropped one and was overthrown on another. On the game winning drive he started things off with a nice catch and run for 12 yards and was easily overthrown on a deep pass down the middle two plays later. He had a quiet game with minimal impact.