After opening the season with an impressive home win over the New York Jets, the San Francisco 49ers will look to move to 2-0 on Sunday in their road opener against the Minnesota Vikings (1:00 pm ET, FOX).
The 49ers kicked off their quest for a second straight Super Bowl trip with a 32-19 win over the Jets on Monday night. After punting on their first drive, the Niners didn’t punt again, scoring on eight consecutive drives before kneeling out the win on their final possession.
San Francisco won without NFL Offensive Player of the Year favorite Christian McCaffrey, who was a late scratch with lingering calf and Achilles concerns. With McCaffrey sidelined, Jordan Mason took on a starring role, running for 147 yards and a touchdown on 28 carries.
McCaffrey’s status for Week 2 is up in the air, but even after Mason’s magnificent Monday, McCaffrey’s return will be a welcome one.
Sunday’s matchup at U.S. Bank Stadium will be the home opener for the Vikings, who started the season by shutting down the New York Giants at MetLife Stadium. Sam Darnold and Aaron Jones were solid in their Vikings debuts, and the defense was outstanding, sacking Daniel Jones five times and keeping the Giants out of the end zone.
Looking for more picks for this week’s top NFL matchups? We have NFL computer picks for this matchup and other big Week 2 games like Bills-Dolphins, Bengals-Chiefs, and Bears-Texans.
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49ers vs Vikings Betting Analysis
Good defense and offensive efficiency were the name of the game for both San Francisco and Minnesota in Week 1.
Would the 49ers have preferred a more even split than six field goals and two touchdowns? Absolutely. But scoring on all but one of your actual drives is about as good as it gets. And they were very balanced offensively, with Brock Purdy going 19 of 29 for 231 yards and the ground game going for 180 yards on 38 attempts behind Mason’s big game.
The Vikings didn’t put up big numbers, but Darnold was 19 of 24 for 208 yards and two touchdowns (with one interception) and Jones ran for 94 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries.
Defensively, both teams brought it in a big way. The Niners limited the Jets to only 266 total yards (5.4 yards per play) and forced two turnovers, while the Vikes held the G-Men to only 240 yards at a clip of 3.5 yards per play.
While both defenses are coming off of strong performances, recent history indicates that the over is likely on Sunday.
In Kevin O’Connell’s two-plus seasons as head coach, the over is 9-5 in games in which the Vikings have been an underdog, and it is 4-2 when Minnesota has had the rest advantage, which they do here. Also, since 2022, the over is 19-10 (.655) in games following a 49ers win and 12-8 (.600) following a Vikings win.
49ers vs Vikings Prediction & Best Bets
Betting trends favor the over, but what spread outcome is likeliest?
The Vikings are 4-1-1 ATS in their last six games as an underdog of 4.5 or more points. That includes a 22-17 win over the 49ers in Week 7 last season, when San Francisco was favored by 6.5 points.
The Niners, meanwhile, were just 5-10 ATS last season when they were favored by 4.5 or more points.
This certainly profiles as a potentially tricky game for the NFC favorites, with or without McCaffrey. But they were strong on both sides of the ball in Week 1, and while Darnold was solid against the Giants in Week 1, an opponent of this caliber—and the team he was a part of last season, at that—may result in a different outcome, though there is a lot of appeal in the over for his passing yards prop, as he will likely have to put the ball in the air more than he did against the Giants.
Even if we don’t see CMC for a second straight week, the 49ers should be able to pull this one out and do enough to cover the spread.
49ers vs Vikings Prediction: 49ers to win
49ers vs Vikings Best Bets: 1) 49ers -5 2) 49ers/Vikings over 46 3) Sam Darnold (Vikings) over 229.5 passing yards (-116 at BetOnline)
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Other NFL Betting Information
Where Can You Bet on 49ers vs Vikings?
The 49ers vs Vikings odds listed here are from BetOnline, but there are many other sites where you can have some action on Sunday’s matchup in Minneapolis.
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