N.F.L. 1997 DIVISIONAL PLAYOFFS N.F.C. GAME #1
San Francisco 49ers 38,
Minnesota Vikings 22
Game summary
1 2 3 4 Total
Vikings 7 0 7 8 22
49ers 7 14 10 7 38
at 3Com Park, San Francisco, California
Game time: 4:00 p.m. EST/1:00 p.m. PST
Game weather: 57 °F (14 °C), partly cloudy
Game attendance: 65,018
Referee: Bob McElwee
TV announcers (Fox): Dick Stockton (play-by-play) and Matt Millen (color commentator)
[s… Morehow]Game information
Minnesota came into the playoffs with the second-to-last ranked defense during the regular season, something the 49ers proved more than capable of exploiting. By the end of the game, San Francisco racked up 394 yards without losing a single turnover and only giving up one sack. Filling in for the injured starter Garrison Hearst, 49ers running back Terry Kirby ran for a career-high 120 yards and two touchdowns, while receiver J. J. Stokes caught a career-high nine passes for 101 yards. Steve Young threw for 220 yards and a touchdown, while also rushing for 37. Minnesota had 374 yards, but lost 91 of them with 12 penalties. Vikings quarterback Randall Cunningham threw for 331 yards and three touchdowns, but also threw an interception that was returned for a touchdown. His top target was Jake Reed, who caught five passes for 114 yards. Cris Carter added six receptions for 93 yards and two touchdowns.
Early in the first quarter, Vikings punter Mitch Berger shanked a 12-yard punt that gave the 49ers a first down on the Minnesota 26-yard line, leading to fullback William Floyd's 1-yard touchdown run. It the start of a long day for Berger, who finished the game with a measly 29.9 yards per punt average on his seven kicks. Still, the Vikings responded on their first play after the ensuing kickoff with Cunningham's 66-yard touchdown pass to Carter. Late in the second quarter, a 28-yard pass interference penalty on Vikings safety Torrian Gray and a personal foul call against linebacker Dwayne Rudd for kicking the penalty flag gave the 49ers a first down on the Minnesota 2-yard line. On the next play, a penalty against linebacker Dixon Edwards put the ball on the 1, and Kirby ran the ball into the end zone from there, giving the 49ers a 14-7 lead at the end of a 61-yard drive. Then on the Vikings ensuing drive, linebacker Ken Norton Jr. intercepted a pass from Cunningham and returned it 23 yards for a touchdown, making the score 21-7 going into halftime.
San Francisco increased their lead to 24-7 early in the third quarter, driving 46 yards in 10 plays to score with Gary Anderson's 34-yard field goal. But the Vikings responded with Cunningham's 53-yard completion to Reed setting up a 3-yard touchdown reception by Carter, narrowing the gap to 24-14. Replays showed the officials blew the call on Reed's reception because his second toe came down on the end line, but it didn't make much difference because the 49ers came back with a 75-yard touchdown drive with Kirby rushing for gains of 22 and 14 yards on the first two plays. Young's 15-yard pass to Terrell Owens made the score 31-14.[11]
In the fourth quarter, a 15-yard penalty against Vikings lineman John Randle and a 29-yard completion from Young to Stokes set up Kirby's second touchdown of the day to put the Niners up 38-14 before Cunningham led a desperate comeback attempt. After finishing a 73-yard drive with a 13-yard touchdown pass to Matthew Hatchette that cut the score to 38-22, he led the team to the 49ers 16-yard line with about two minutes left in the game. But after spiking the ball on first down, he threw three consecutive incompletions, resulting in a turnover on downs that allowed San Francisco to run out the rest of the clock. Less