12:17 AM - And 20-3 is your final score. The Vikings will look to rebound this Sunday as they take on the Lions at TCF Bank Stadium at Noon.
11:43 PM –Carlos Hyde has struck again, and it might have been the finishing blow.
Using a nifty cutback, Hyde went untouched to the end zone from 17 yards out. Phil Dawson tacked on the PAT to make the score 17-3 in favor of the 49ers.
There is 9:30 to play, so the Vikings have time to rally. But their margin for error has shrunk to almost nothing. Hyde has 136 rushing yards and 2 TDs on 21 carries.
11:36 PM –The Vikings are on the board. Blair Walsh is on the board.
The Vikings fourth-year kicker, who missed a FG in the 1st quarter, nailed this 4th-quarter try from 37 yards.
San Francisco still leads, though, holding onto a 10-3 advantage early in the final quarter.
11:34 PM –The 3rd quarter is over and the Vikings still have no points, but they are driving.
Heading into the 4th quarter, the Vikings trail 10-0 but they have the ball on the SF 19 with a 2nd and 6.
Bridgewater has completed 10 of his last 10 passes.
11:21 PM –The 49ers are building a lead.
Leading 7-0 at halftime, the 49ers held the Vikings without a score on their first drive of the 2nd half and then drove 14 plays to tack on a 28-yard FG, making the score 10-0.
There is 4:32 to go in the 3rd quarter.
10:35 –Near the end of a sloppy first half in all phases for both teams, the San Francisco 49ers got on the board with a Carlos Hyde TD run on a nice cutback. The TD + PAT gave the 49ers a 7-0 lead with under a minute to play in the 1st half.
The 49ers scoring drive was a clinic in the running game, as the offensive line paved the way for its RBs to gash the Vikings run defense. The scoring drive ate up 93 yards in 11 plays.
The Vikings will have 47 seconds of game time to score in the 1st half and then they will also receive the opening kickoff of the 2nd half.
9:55 PM –Lots of fireworks, but still no points.
After blocking a FG to keep the 49ers off the board, the Vikings also recovered a muffed punt by 49ers rookie Jarryd Hayne.
But the Vikings offense hasn't been able to capitalize on the extra chances and just turned the ball over on downs at the SF 29. There is no score with :59 to play in the 1st quarter.
9:39 PM –What a start to the game.
The 49ers received the opening kickoff and put together a great drive that included five 1st downs and 44 rushing yards, but the Vikings defense bowed up just in time and forced a FG try.
Then, the FG was blocked by Andrew Sendejo and scooped up by Marcus Sherels. After a 48-yard return to the SF 26 by Sherels, the Vikings went 3-and-out. Blair Walsh came on to salvage the drive with a 44-yard FG try.
And the kick was no good.
So after all of that, there is no score.
9:04 PM - Pretty cool video here showing Adrian Peterson's pregame speech to his fellow running backs in the tunnel prior to tonight's game.
8:41 PM –A quick weather report from the San Francisco area.* *You never know what you're going to get when it comes to San Francisco weather. From the looks of it tonight, though, conditions will be pretty good.
The forecast for 7:20 PM local time calls for a temperature of 68 degrees with just a 15% chance of precipitation and moderate winds of 10-15 mph. The hourly forecast then calls for a drop in temperature of just two degrees throughout the duration of the game with the chance for rain staying the same and the wind speeds to drop a touch.
8:36 –It's a tough way to begin the schedule for the Vikings, but there is a silver lining.
Opening on the road on the West coast in the second half of the Monday Night Football Week 1 doubleheader isn't an easy draw, especially with a battle versus the Detroit Lions just five days and a few hours after the team lands back in Minnesota after the season opener. After all, the Vikings are just the third team in the ESPN MNF Week 1 doubleheader to travel two time zones to play in the game.
But there is a silver lining in it all. Road teams in Game 2 of the opening weekend MNF doubleheader average 33.2 points per game and are 7-2 in their Week 2 games.
8:15 –The PAT is a legitimate talker early in the regular season.
There were four missed extra point kicks in Sunday's games, which is half of the eight missed extra point kicks the NFL saw in all 16 weeks last season. So the modified PAT format, which now has extra points spotted at the 15 yard line (making for a 33-yard try), is already having an impact on games.
Adding intrigue to this issue for the Vikings is that K Blair Walsh is coming off a preseason in which he missed six of his 11 FG tries, quite out of character for the ordinarily ultra-reliable fourth-year kicker. Head coach Mike Zimmer did not express concern over Walsh's miscues in the preseason, so it'll be interesting to see how the Vikings handle any PAT attempts they have tonight.
7:10 PM – Adrian the…decoy?
Much has been made about the return of Adrian Peterson to the Vikings lineup tonight. He hasn't played in a game for the Purple since Week 1 of last season and he was held out of preseason action, meaning he is anxious to get back out on the field, the team is anxious to incorporate him into a game plan and play calls, and the fans are excited to see him lineup in the backfield with second-year QB Teddy Bridgewater for the first time.
Peterson is the game's best RB and the Vikings are excited about his return, but is there a chance he'll play more decoy than main man early tonight? It sounds antithetical to the buildup of tonight's game, but Bridgewater did have a dynamite preseason, the team added the speedy Mike Wallace to the WR corps, and San Francisco is starting two new CBs tonight after losing both of last year's starters to free agency. Pass to open up the run? Seems unlikely given Peterson's profound place in the Vikings offense, but it's at least an option for the Vikings tonight.
6:59PM –Here's how you can take in tonight's game…
Game Time:9:20 p.m. CT
TV:ESPN + CBS locallyRadio:Vikings Radio Network; KFAN-FM 100.3/KTCN-AM 1130Mobile:NFL Mobile (exclusively on Verizon)
6:49 PM - After literally the longest preseason possible, we're now just hours away from kickoff to the Vikings 2015 regular season. The Vikings Entertainment Network crew is settled in at Levi's Stadium in advance of tonight's 9:20 PM CST kickoff beween the Vikings and 49ers.
Below you can view several videos previewing the opener, and stay tuned all night (and morning) for game coverage.
