Monday Night Football: Will the absence of Deebo Samuel affect the 49ers offense?

Brock Purdy struggled last week without Samuel and McCaffery, will he be able to adjust without his WR again?

The San Francisco 49ers head to U.S. Bank Stadium to take on the Minnesota Vikings, in a Monday Night matchup of two NFC teams. The Vikings are coming off a divisional win on the road against the Chicago Bears, where they won 19-13. Meanwhile, the 49ers are looking to redeem themselves after an unexpected 17-19 loss to the Cleveland Browns, San Francisco’s first defeat of the season.

The Niners are currently are favored over the Vikings, according to DraftKings Sportsbook. We have been using Tallysight to get our picks in each week, so sign up at Tallysight for submitting your own bets.

Last week, the 49ers saw two of their star players leave the game early, when RB Christian McCaffery and WR Deebo Samuel were both injured. Without his weapons on offense, Brock Purdy played one of his worst games as a pro and experienced the first regular season loss of his NFL career. To his credit though, Purdy almost rallied the Niners to a late game victory on the final drive, if not for a missed 41-yard field goal by rookie Jake Moody with :06 left.

The Vikings, on the other hand, pretty much controlled their entire game against Chicago. The score is a bit misleading and looks closer than it was, thanks to a late score by the Bears at the end of the game, the only touchdown made all day by the Monsters of the Midway.

While the Vikings won last week, they did it against one of the NFC’s worst in the Bears, who were also without starting QB Justin Fields for most of the second half. The 49ers had been walking through some of the NFL’s best up until last week, and should get McCaffery back for this game. Samuel is still expected to miss at least the next two games, but I think the addition of McCaffery back to the offense will be enough to remedy the struggles Purdy faced vs Cleveland.

I am taking the 49ers to cover the point spread and win the game. I am also taking the over in this game, as both teams have offenses with the ability to score a high number of points this season, and should be able to get over the combined 44-point mark.