Minnesota Vikings Opponent Breakdown: The San Francisco 49ers’ defense

In their first regular season game of 2018, the Minnesota Vikings new-look offense will be taking on an up-and-coming San Francisco 49ers defense.

On Sunday, September 9, the Minnesota Vikings will begin the 2018 NFL season at U.S. Bank Stadium by hosting the San Francisco 49ers.

The Vikings’ offense is looking for a fast start against a defensive opponent that ranked in the bottom of the league last year against both the run and the pass and also in points allowed.

49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh is 20 years younger than Minnesota head coach Mike Zimmer. Saleh is in his second year with San Francisco and on Sunday afternoon, he has his work cut out for him as the 49ers start the season against Zimmer’s fully-charged Vikings offense.

In 2017, San Francisco general manager John Lynch hired Saleh out of Jacksonville, where he had been the Jaguars’ linebackers coach for three seasons. Before that, he spent four years as a defensive quality control assistant with the Seattle Seahawks under Pete Carroll.

Not exactly a legendary pedigree, but professional nonetheless.

In Saleh’s first year as defensive coordinator, the 49ers were an awful defense, giving up an average of 24 points a game and ranking 25th in total defense. They were also 30th in the NFL in opponent third down conversions and 26th against teams scoring in the red zone.

These are things that Saleh’s senior counterpart, Zimmer, is no doubt taking a long look at this week.

In theory, it would not seem to take an extraordinary acumen to to put together a potentially successful game plan against San Francisco from Minnesota’s offensive sideline. Even with their somewhat fragile and precarious offensive line, the Vikings match up well on the chess board.

But despite the 49ers now being lead by Lynch, whose All-Pro free safety career exemplified toughness and success, new Minnesota quarterback Kirk Cousins and his set of offensive weapons will be facing a defense that looks a lot like the 2017 version.

This doesn’t mean the game is a layup, but it’s the Vikings’ game to lose.

San Francisco’s defense ranked 22nd in the NFL against the rush last year and they did little to address the situation in free agency except sign former San Diego Chargers linebacker Jeremiah Attaochu (a part-time starter) to a modest contract.

In last April’s draft, the 49ers’ front office waited until the third-round to pick a defensive player.  They then then made six consecutive choices on defense, but none of these selections are expected to be part of their starting rotation in 2018.

San Francisco’s best defensive player, linebacker Reuben Foster, was suspended for two games this season for violating the NFL’s policies on personal conduct and substance abuse. So he will not be playing on Sunday.

No doubt that Minnesota offensive coordinator John DeFilippo is looking to use a steady pulse of both power and misdirection with the team’s running game to put pressure on a young and unproven 49ers defensive line and set up play-action passing routes.

Meanwhile, Cousins will be setting up the Vikings’ pass offense against a San Francisco front-seven that only came up with 30 sacks in 2017 and struggled to put consistent pressure on opposing quarterbacks throughout the season.