“Field General” Blake Cashman and the Vikings defense stop the 49ers

Safety Joshua Metellus thanked Minnesota's first seven players for less stress in the secondary.

“When you're a DB and they put pressure on the front line like that, they put pressure on Brock Purdy like that, they make our job so much easier,” Metellus said. “We played two games, man, and it felt too easy back there. The big dogs did their job, man.”

“We will start to capitalize on our opportunities and continue to stand up to each other,” he added.

However, Metellus definitely took advantage of one opportunity in the game and finally secured a ball that bounced through the air a few times.

The pass left Purdy's hand before deflecting off Cashman, bouncing off Metellus' fingertips, missing Camryn Bynum, and then returning to Metellus.

Talk about a human pinball machine.

And the price? After losing the ball, Minnesota took advantage and found Jalen Nailor for a 10-yard touchdown.

“It's really all the hustle and bustle. Everyone's running for the ball. It was a checkdown and someone tried to play it up, I tried to catch it and played it back up,” Bynum noted. “But everyone's running for the ball and if we're close, one of us would have come down with it. Josh was able to catch it, get the ball and give us a touchdown on the next play. So it's really just the effort of the defense, everyone chasing the ball and finding it.”