Week 7 MNF Recap

Written by: William Petersen •

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The final game of the week 7 slate found the 5-1 San Francisco 49ers visiting the 2-4 Minnesota Vikings. Kirk Cousins came into this Monday night fight with a record of 3-9 and his notorious resume for terrible primetime performances. Cousins may have finally figured out the tricks to winning primetime games, and especially Monday night games, going 34/45 for 378 yards, 2 touchdowns, and an interception. Cousins was calm and collected in the pocket all night, not being sacked once, which led to the Vikings overcoming the 49ers 22-17. Cousins should be buying his offensive lineman dinner tonight after leaving the field with a clean jersey and just his third Monday Night Football win of his career. San Francisco have now lost two straight games for the first time since weeks 6 and 7 of the 2022 season.

San Francisco will reflect on this primetime loss as one focused on missed opportunities. Brock Purdy didn’t play terribly but did not look as dynamic and poised as we have grown accustomed to seeing prior to the past two weeks. Purdy ended the game 21-30, 1 TD, and 2 interceptions, his second interception being a desperation floater that would seal the victory for the Vikings late in the fourth quarter. The Niners will look to hopefully get Deebo Samuel back next week but should be very pleased with how well Christian McCaffrey performed tonight after being on the injury report all week. CMC finished with 15 carries for 45 yards, 3 receptions for 51 yards and two total touchdowns. McCaffrey’s oblique injury did not seem to slow him down one bit as he was able to continue his stellar run of 16 consecutive games with a touchdown. San Francisco will look to end their two game slide as they host the 3-3 Cincinnati Bengals who are coming off a bye.

Kirk Cousins can breathe a sigh of relief after finally getting the primetime monkey off of his back following a complete game from Cousins. Even without star wideout Justin Jefferson, Cousins was able to hurt San Francisco’s secondary through rookie wideout Jordan Addison. Addison hauled in 7 receptions for 124 yards and 2 touchdowns to help cement his role as WR2 once Jefferson returns from IR. Addison was the game changer tonight and helped pick up the slack of the lack of run game produced by Alexander Mattison. Mattison continues to struggle as the lead back for the Vikings, 8 carries for 39 yards, and was out snapped by newly added running back Cam Akers by two snaps. Akers finished the game with 10 carriers for 31 yards and 2 receptions for 30 yards. Do not be surprised to see Akers command more of the snap share as the weeks roll on especially if Mattison continues his run of underwhelming form. Minnesota will take their two game win streak to Lambeau Field for a division duel with the 2-4 Green Bay Packers.

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