NFL countdown: Vikings at 49ers

By foxsports
Published

The Vikings' long-awaited, 2015 regular-season opener is inching closer. The Vikings' visit San Francisco on Monday night, in a contest that will require fans to consume copious amounts of caffeine, due to its 9:20 p.m. CT start. Here's what to keep an eye on for this showdown, in which the Vikings are 2.5-point favorites.

3 THINGS TO WATCH

-- How will Adrian Peterson look in his long-awaited return to game action? Peterson, of course, hasn't played since Week 1 of last season, due to his well-documented legal scrape. We know one thing, Peterson will promptly return to his peerless, hard-charging running style. But that could also work against him, considering he hasn't been in legitimate game action since Sept. 7, 2014, and hasn't been tackled during his time away from "live fire," if you will. In other words, it'll be interesting to see how Peterson's body responds to quickly flipping the switch and returning to an NFL battle. It wouldn't be shocking to see the Vikings' coaching staff put Peterson on the football equivalent of a pitch count, to an extent, limiting his touches a bit in an effort to limit the chances of AP tweaking a hamstring, or hurting knee, or enduring a high-ankle sprain. Then again, Peterson has made a habit of bouncing back in big fashion in the past, like in 2012, when he rushed for 2,097 total yards just months after a major knee injury.

-- Will the Vikings have a downfield passing attack? Teddy Bridgewater was solid as a rookie, but he stuck almost exclusively with short, conservative passes, averaging 7.3 yards per attempt. This preseason, Bridgewater, while extremely accurate (82.9 completion percentage), kept things largely conservative, averaging 8.4 yards per attempt. In comparison, Drew Brees (12.4 yards per attempt), Matthew Stafford (12.3) and Matt Ryan (11.7) all had more downfield aggressiveness this preseason. The Vikings acquired speedy receiver Mike Wallace in the offseason, but he only had four preseason catches. Wallace, Charles Johnson and perhaps Jarius Wright need to provide Minnesota with some consistent downfield options if the Vikings want their offense to take a significant step forward in 2015.

-- Will the turf be in decent shape? Levi Stadium's turf has been widely criticized recently. In early August, chunks of turf at the 49ers' stadium were ripped up during the Santa Clara County all-star football game. According to the San Jose Mercury News, during 49ers practices early in training camp, sizable pieces of Levi's Stadium turf popped up frequently when players made sharp cuts. That's an uncomfortable fact for the Vikings, who watched the worn-out, late-season turf at FedEx Field in Washington tear up Peterson's knee back in 2011. On top of that, Peterson will have some serious rust to shake off after missing most of 2014. That's a combination that will cause some unease for the Vikings contingent, to be sure.

2 THINGS TO REMEMBER

-- In recent years, at least, the Vikings' Week 1 outcome seems to be an omen of things to come. Dating back to 2009, the Vikings' season opener has seemingly had an impact on the season as a whole. In 2009, for instance, Minnesota posted a solid, 34-20 road win at Cleveland en route to a 12-4 campaign. A year later, the Vikings endured an ugly, 14-9 season-opening loss in New Orleans, then watched their season unravel toward a 6-10 finish. In 2012, the Vikings pulled an overtime win from the fire against Jacksonville in Week 1, and later that season clawed their way into the playoffs at 10-6. You get the point. Perhaps it's reading too much into what is, in actuality, 1/16th of the season, but Week 1 has seemed to have great importance for Minnesota in recent years. The Vikings are 30-23-1 all-time in season openers. The Vikings are also 8-3-1 all-time versus San Francisco in September games.

-- The 49ers are supposedly in rebuilding mode. Under first-year head coach Jim Tomsula, San Francisco had multiple players retire unexpectedly in the offseason, namely standout linebackers Patrick Willis, right tackle Anthony Davis (just 25 years old) and last year's leading tackler, 24-year-old Chris Borland. That has expectations low in San Francisco, meaning a season-opening loss would be mildly demoralizing for Minnesota. The Vikings have won five of their last six games in this series, which is tied, 22-22-1 all-time.

1 KEY MATCHUP

Vikings defense vs. QB Colin Kaepernick

Kaepernick, the 49ers' supremely athletic signal-caller, had an okay season a year ago, registering 3,369 yards through the air and 639 more on the ground. He accounted for 20 total touchdowns last season, as San Francisco finished with a middling, 8-8 record. The 6-foot-4, 230-pounder spent the offseason in Arizona revamping his throwing mechanics, so he'll be eager to impress Monday night. For what it's worth, in the Vikings' last game against a renowned, mobile quarterback, they held Cam Newton in check last Nov. 14, limiting him to 49 rushing yards and a 65.7 passer rating in a 31-13 Minnesota win.

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