The 49ers are back in the playoff picture after taking down the Minnesota Vikings 34-26 for their third straight win.
Both teams entered the game 5-5, so the 49ers not only took a one-game lead over the Vikings in the wild-card race, they also collected the head-to-head tiebreaker.
San Francisco got the job done on the strength of another big-time rushing attack as Elijah Mitchell led the way with 133 yards on the ground and Deebo Samuel added a 69-yard rush of his own before suffering a groin injury that kept him out for the entire fourth quarter.
The 49ers held the ball for more than 37 minutes, but they did not quite reach coach Kyle Shanahan’s goal of 40 rushing attempts, falling one short.
Here’s what Shanahan, Jimmy Garoppolo and the rest of the team said after the game:
Kyle Shanahan
On the intensity:
I know if it’s the weight because of the playoff implications and records. It’s the weight because of where the teams were going at it. We didn’t play as good of ball as we should have early in the year. Minnesota, speaking for them, felt the same. Both of us have played well the last couple of weeks. We had ground to make up. That’s why we believed it would be like a playoff game. Two teams were playing inspired, have everything on the line, and that’s why it was a good game for people to watch. I was real proud of our guys how they handled it and all the different stuff that came. When it seemed like we were good, we weren’t.
On Mitchell’s finger injury:
Looked like it did alright. I threw him the ball in warmups and he didn’t have an issue with it. You see how he ran. He was a stud today, just how physical he played. Didn’t seem like there were any concerns.
On a conversation with Garoppolo after interception:
I just told him the obvious — what he missed and told him to let it go and we’re going to come right back to you, and we need you to be aggressive for the rest of the game.
On running down the field to catch an official’s attention:
I was just alerting the ref that we were going to double-move that guy and he was going to PI him.
On the team’s rhythm:
I think we’ve definitely played our best football these last three games, just in all three phases. You know, I thought this one was a huge one because it’s a little different than the last two because it came down to the wire and things went good for both sides at certain times in the game and then the momentum flipped a number of times.
On Elijah Mitchell making more out of less on runs:
That’s the style he plays with. I mean, he runs the right holes, you know, he’s talented, but that’s also what’s inside of him, right? He’s gritty. He competes for every single yard.
On other NFC wild card teams losing:
That’s good to hear but actually I don’t know any scores right now, and it’s way too early to care. I mean, you look at that stuff at the end of the day … what do we have left, six games? There’s a lot left to be played. I mean, last year at this time we were moving to Arizona this Tuesday night.
On Jauan Jennings:
Jauan’s been waiting for his opportunity and it happened when Mo got hurt. Each week he’s gotten better and better. We like having him out there.
Kevin Givens
On playing without Warner at the end:
We just kind of rallied around each other and tried to just get the job done.
On how he got into the backfield for his forced fumble:
That’s kind of our scheme, kind of just attack and I knew I was getting a reach block so I played behind it and guess what happened.
On Mitchell:
“Just watching in practice, how he just keeps driving his feed and when he gets into that hole, he just kind of goes dead and just pops out.”
George Kittle
On Mitchell:
When he runs downhill, a play that’s blocked for three yards ends up being seven yards. Play that’s blocked for one yard ends up being four yards. When he gets hit, he always falls forward.
On what makes Mitchell successful:
I think he just loves football. He shows up every day, he works. He’s there every day.
On the defense picking up the offense:
We had a turnover early and our defense comes right back and they get two turnovers. Shoutout to Azeez and our guys for stepping up. That’s what killed us early on.
On Garoppolo:
Jimmy did a great job bouncing back, you know. Yeah, he had a couple overthrows early but he made the plays when we really needed them and he got guys a ball when they needed to get those passes.
On cutting out turnovers:
You can be one of the best teams in the league and if you have turnovers, there’s nothing to do about it.
On the team finding its rhythm:
If one phase wasn’t playing well, the other two would pick it up, and that’s kind of how the last two weeks have been. But I definitely feel like our offense — we felt a groove there.
On Zimmer saying the 49ers get away with holding:
I mean, I think if you’re running your feet and your hands are inside, just because a guy spins and flails his arm, it’s not holding. He’s just flopping. You can watch plenty of pass plays, I probably got a holding call out there on a pass route. I got hugged and tackled, and I think there were like three of those out there — they don’t get called. It’s football. Refs throw a flag, refs don’t throw a flag. It’s just the game. If you’re gonna sit on the sideline and complain about holding the whole time, tell your guys to make better plays.
Deebo Samuel
On his groin injury:
Not too much concern. We got MRI in the morning. We’ll just see how it goes.
On giving Mitchell water on the sideline:
I’d want him to do the same thing if I running the ball like seven times in a row and can’t breathe.
Azeez Al-Shaair
On how he’s found success this year:
I really just trust in myself. Just being more comfortable with who I am as a player and not always trying to be like somebody else.
On his interception:
We just made an adjustment at halftime. They had kind of completed that pass a couple times and I remember we just talked about changing up the coverage a little bit and just reading through stuff. I see something that we’re always supposed to do, and I was able to just slide underneath it and he threw the ball.
Jimmy Garoppolo
On the talk with Shanahan after interception:
He always approaches me face-to-face with it. I just had to get to my checkdown, wasn’t looking for it. I tried to be aggressive on it, but I just can’t do that.
On the final drive of the first half:
It was important for us. I think just getting that and then we get the kickoff in the second half really gave us a little edge there.
On Mitchell:
When he gets hit by that first guy, he just doesn’t stop. The o-line, you. know, they help him out, too, with a little push. When you can make a one-yard run into a four- or five-yard run, (the drive) lasts for a lot longer.
On adjusting after tough start:
I wasn’t happy with how it started, but just what we did before halftime and what we did coming out in the second half I think really helped turn the game in our favor.
Nick Bosa
On the win streak:
We’re all excited to be back in the mix and have a season in our control. We always knew that we were a really good team and just had to execute better. Now we’re executing at the right times. When guys go down, next man up and we have confident in them. Definitely an upward trend.
On who stepped up with Warner out:
Azeez did a really good job with how he played — interception and playing the run well.
On the atmosphere:
It was a lot of fun to have Levi’s excited again. I think it was a really hard fought game so we were pretty tired. They don’t make it easy on the d-line, so definitely excited and it’s a lot funnier to have a Victory Monday than to be looking at a loss.
On moving up in the playoff picture:
I think we’re in it right now, but we just got to keep winning.
Elijah Mitchell
On returning from injury:
I just had to go out there and see if I could hold the ball and stuff. But in the middle of the week I realized that I’d be able to go.
On ball control:
It’s big time when you hold the ball for a long period of time and run the clock out too, so we just gotta continue to do that.
On the Vikings trying to go after his injured finger:
They were definitely trying to get the ball out. But they didn’t hit it.
On how he picks up extra yardage:
It just starts in the room. That’s just something that our position coach Bobby T expresses a lot. Keep driving and protecting the ball, so it just starts with the mindset.
On his vision as a major attribute:
You’re a running back, so you gotta have vision. So this is something that I’ve been having.
On Deebo Samuel:
He’s incredible, man, just the way he runs the ball. He’s a running back to me.
Jauan Jennings
On what he enjoys about being on the field:
This (expletive) is still a dream come true.
On his physicality:
It’s just part of the game that I’ve always loved about it ever since a little boy.
On moving up in the playoff picture:
It’s very exciting to see the position we are in now, but it was two teams in that position today and for us to come out and get that win. It was big but, you know, we can’t go to sleep, can’t be satisfied. Gotta go back to work, I got a game next week.
