Vikings-49ers

One team was healthy and well-rested. The other team was coming off of a tough, Wild Card overtime win on a short week. The healthy, well-rested team cruised to a 27-10 win. The San Francisco 49ers will host the NFC Championship game next week. The Minnesota Vikings fun, up and down 2019 season is over. For the 59th season the Vikings end the season short of a title. 30 of those seasons have ended with a postseason loss.

The first indication that yesterday might not be the Vikings day came late in the first quarter. Vikings defensive end Danielle Hunter hit 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo as he was throwing the ball. Somehow, the ball fluttered it's way 16 yards and into the hands of a diving Kendrick Bourne. Those fluttering throws usually end up as interceptions. Not yesterday.

Two bitching points.

1. What was the thinking, if there even was any, behind the NFL's decision to play both NFC Wild Card games on Sunday? That stupidity gave one AFC Wild Card team (Houston Texans) an extra day of preparation and rest. It gave the other AFC Wild Card team (Tennessee Titans) and one NFC Wild Card team (Seattle Seahawks) a full week of preparation and rest. It left one NFC Wild Card team with a short week of preparation and rest. That team was the Vikings. NFL playoff games will never be on a level playing field simply because one team has earned the coveted right to host the game. The top two seeds in each conference get the added advantage of starting the playoffs with bye week. They've earned the right to rest and get healthy. That's fine. But how do you take a day of preparation and rest away from one team? The Vikings didn't even know their next opponent until their plane from New Orleans landed at Minneapolis-St. Paul late Sunday night/early Monday morning. This Vikings team that opposed the 49ers yesterday looked nothing like the team that faced the Saints last week. The 49ers were a reason for that. They weren't the only reason. The NFL's ridiculous decision to alter the Wild Card schedule impacted this game. It was scheduling stupidity that was unique to this season.

2. 49ers defensive end Nick Bosa should've been tossed from the game for his cheap shot hit on Vikings offensive tackle Brian O'Neil. The cheap shot came on Richard Sherman's interception return. Bosa took advantage of O'Neill focusing on the return and went for his head. O'Neill left the game with a concussion and did not return. Bosa was hit with a penalty but was allowed to stay in the game while O'Neill was being treated for a head injury. O'Neill is the Vikings best offensive lineman and his absence changed the game. Four of the 49ers six sacks came after O'Neill left the game. An ineffective run game and the score allowed the 49ers pass rush to tee off on Kirk Cousins. The path to the quarterback was exponentially easier without O'Neill on the field. It was the sort of asshat hit that has no place in the game. As such, Bosa should've been tossed from it. Nick Bosa will forever be a cheap, dirty player to me.

None of those bitching points are the reason that the Vikings lost the game. The 49ers won. They were the better team yesterday. It's just frustrating to have a fun season end so suddenly. It's like falling off a cliff without the physical damage that comes with doing so. The Vikings team that beat the Saints last week was real close to the team that I believe they can be. The offense and defense showed up in the same game for the first time this season. I thought/hoped that it was an indication that the team was coming together at the right time. Instead, against the 49ers they looked like the disconnected, disjointed, disorganized team that bumbled their way through games against the Green Bay Packers and Chicago Bears. Yesterday was the wrong day for that team to return.

It's frustrating. This season wasn't supposed to end this soon. For the 30th time the Vikings playoffs ended with a loss. I remember all but a handful of them.

Congratulations to the 49ers. They have a terrific, young team. Being from northern California, the 49ers are the team of choice of many family and friends. If the Vikings are out of the picture I usually hope that those family and friends have success with their team. I can't find that right now. Perhaps it's just the frustration of the loss but I'm sick of the bandwagon nature of 49ers fans. Hell, some flip to the Oakland Raiders if things are more promising over there. They're everywhere when the 49ers are winning. They're on to other things when the team struggles. The team's 2019 slogan is "Faithful Then. Faithful Now." That's perfect. The fans were faithful during the team's incredible run from 1981-95. The fans are faithful now with this strong, promising team. They weren't so faithful in between. 49ers fans are faithful when times are good. A friend of mine had 49ers season tickets in the early 90s. It was a good time to have them. After a couple seasons of falling just short of the Super Bowl, she said to me that she wouldn't renew her season tickets if the team couldn't guarantee a Super Bowl win. Not every 49ers fan has such flighty loyalty but many do.Way too many. Right now, I don't want the 49ers to win another game. Time might mellow my feelings but I just can't deal with such wavering fans and I just can't deal with a team that employs Nick Bosa.

Thank you to all of the Minnesota Vikings players and coaches. It was a fun season. I'm with you always. Our day will come.