The San Francisco 49ers didn't have to wait too long to find out their opponent for Saturday's NFC Divisional Round. In the first game of Sunday's NFC Wild Card matchup, the Minnesota Vikings stunned the New Orleans Saints in a 26-20 overtime victory, earning their first playoff win on the road since Jan. 9 2005.
In overtime, Minnesota won the coin toss and elected to receive. The highlight play of the game came on a 43-yard pass from Kirk Cousins to Adam Thielen to move the Vikings to the Saints 2-yard line. On 3rd-and-4, tight end Kyle Rudolph caught the game-winning touchdown to advance the Vikings to the NFC Divisional Round.
Cousins completed 19-of-31 passes for 242 yards and one touchdown. Thielen led Minnesota's pass catchers with seven receptions for 129 yards. Dalvin Cook made his return since being sidelined with a shoulder injury and registered 94 yards rushing on 28 carries and two touchdowns to go along with three receptions for 36 yards.
Minnesota registered 22 first downs while putting up 362 net yards of offense and an average of 4.9 yards per play against New Orleans.
The Vikings have a short turnaround as they'll head to Santa Clara for the first playoff game in Levi's® Stadium history on Saturday.
The 49ers earned their first week of rest since their Week 4 Bye after clinching the NFC West and home field advantage following the Week 17 nail-biter over the Seattle Seahawks. The 49ers opened linebacker Kwon Alexander's practice window this week after being placed on Injured Reserve in Week 9 with a torn pectoral.
San Francisco looks to get veteran edge rusher Dee Ford back ahead of Saturday matchup, who has missed three weeks with a lingering hamstring issue. Jaquiski Tartt, who has missed the last four weeks with a rib injury, returned to practice this week and is also expected to play against Minnesota.
Kickoff is set for 1:35 pm PT on Saturday, Jan. 11, in the 49ers first playoff contest since 2013. For tickets, visit here.
