It’s back on the road for the Minnesota Vikings Sunday as they meet the San Francisco 49ers at 3:25 p.m. at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara. The game will be televised on Fox, with Kenny Albert on play-by-play, Jonathan Vilma as analyst and Sara Walsh on the sideline.
Defensive end Jim Marshall holds the Vikings’ career record for opponents fumbles recovered with 28 and is also one of just 11 players to have played in all four of Minnesota’s Super Bowl losses.
However, the fumble he’s remembered the most for scooping up is the one that happened on Oct. 25, 1964 at Kezar Stadium in San Francisco.
Marshall recovered a fumble and ran 66 yards the wrong way into his own end zone.
Thinking he had scored a touchdown, he threw the ball out of bounds in celebration, resulting in a safety for the 49ers. Despite Marshall's miscue, Minnesota won 27-22.
On the return flight to Minnesota, teammates ribbed Marshall, who said he simply got confused.
"They kept telling me to get up in the cockpit and fly the plane," he told The Minneapolis Star. "That way we'd end up in Hawaii instead of Minnesota."
Marshall played 20 seasons in the NFL. He played in 282 straight games and recorded 130 sacks. Despite that stellar career, Marshall is probably best known for his wrong-way run.
“It was tough when it happened,” Marshall told the St. Paul Pioneer Press in 2015. "I took my football career very seriously and to make a mistake, of course, it’s something that you don’t want on your resume. But mistakes happen.
“Norm Van Brocklin (then Minnesota’s coach) was known to be tough on mistakes, but that didn’t cause us to lose the game. And he just said, ‘Hey, Jim, just forget about it.’ "
Marshall had great perspective on the play.
"I took it as an opportunity to prove I was a capable football player and emphasize that I was not going to make any more mistakes," he said several years ago. "When you make a mistake like that, believe me, you don't want to do it again. It helped me focus on being the best I could be."
Stat of the week
Kirk Cousins is the only quarterback in the NFL this season to rank in the top 10 in each of the following categories:
Completion %: 68.2 (6th)
Passing yards: 2,775 (6th)
Passing TDs: 21 (tie 5th)
Interceptions: 2 (tie 1st)
Passer rating: 106.3 (3rd)
Notable
With their win over the Packers last week, the Vikings became the 15th team in league history to reach 500 regular-season wins.
WR Adam Thielen now has 455 career receptions, moving past TE Kyle Rudolph (453) for sixth place in team history.
K Greg Joseph has career highs in points (85) and field goals made (21) this season. His previous bests were 26 and 17 with Cleveland in 2018.
Two San Francisco players are Minnesota natives. QB Trey Lance is from Marshall and G Tom Compton is from Rosemount. Compton was with the Vikings in 2018.
The first Vikings receiver to have 200 yards receiving in a game was Paul Flatley on Oct. 24, 1965 at San Francisco. He had 202 yards on seven catches with two touchdowns in Minnesota’s 42-41 win.
Ahmad Rashad set a Vikings record with four touchdown receptions (52, 32, 8 and 25 yards from Tommy Kramer) in a 28-22 win over the 49ers in the season opener on Sept. 2, 1979 at Met Stadium.
Scores
The 49ers lead the series 24-23-1
10-15-1961: San Francisco 49ers 38, Minnesota Vikings 24
11-26-1961: San Francisco 49ers 38, Minnesota Vikings 28
09-30-1962: San Francisco 49ers 21, Minnesota Vikings 7
12-02-1962: San Francisco 49ers 35, Minnesota Vikings 12
09-15-1963: Minnesota Vikings 24, San Francisco 49ers 20
09-29-1963: Minnesota Vikings 45, San Francisco 49ers 14
10-25-1964: Minnesota Vikings 27, San Francisco 49ers 22
11-08-1964: Minnesota Vikings 24, San Francisco 49ers 7
10-24-1965: Minnesota Vikings 42, San Francisco 49ers 41
11-28-1965: San Francisco 49ers 45, Minnesota Vikings 24
09-11-1966: Minnesota Vikings 20, San Francisco 49ers 20 (tie)
10-30-1966: Minnesota Vikings 28, San Francisco 49ers 3
09-17-1967: San Francisco 49ers 27, Minnesota Vikings 21
12-08-1968: Minnesota Vikings 30, San Francisco 49ers 20
12-14-1969: Minnesota Vikings 10, San Francisco 49ers 7
12-27-1970: San Francisco 49ers 17, Minnesota Vikings 14 (NFC Divisional Playoff Game)
11-07-1971: San Francisco 49ers 13, Minnesota Vikings 9
12-16-1972: San Francisco 49ers 20, Minnesota Vikings 17
10-14-1973: Minnesota Vikings 17, San Francisco 49ers 13
09-21-1975: Minnesota Vikings 27, San Francisco 49ers 17
11-29-1976: San Francisco 49ers 20, Minnesota Vikings 16
12-04-1977: Minnesota Vikings 28, San Francisco 49ers 27
09-02-1979: Minnesota Vikings 28, San Francisco 49ers 22
09-08-1983: San Francsco 49ers 48, Minnesota Vikings 17
12-08-1984: San Francisco 49ers 51, Minnesota Vikings 7
09-08-1985: Minnesota Vikings 28, San Francisco 49ers 21
10-12-1986: Minnesota Vikings 27, San Francisco 49ers 24 (OT)
01-09-1988: Minnesota Vikings 36, San Francisco 49ers 24 (NFC Divisional Playoff Game)
10-30-1988: San Francisco 49ers 24, Minnesota Vikings 21
01-01-1989: San Francisco 49ers 34, Minnesota Vikings 9 (NFC Divisional Playoff Game)
01-06-1990: San Francisco 49ers 41, Minnesota Vikings 13 (NFC Divisional Playoff Game)
12-30-1990: San Francisco 49ers 20, Minnesota Vikings 17
09-15-1991: Minnesota Vikings 17, San Francisco 49ers 14
12-13-1992: San Francisco 49ers 20, Minnesota Vikings 17
10-03-1993: San Francisco 49ers 38, Minnesota Vikings 13
12-26-1994: Minnesota Vikings 21, San Francisco 49ers 14
12-18-1995: San Francisco 49ers 37, Minnesota Vikings 30
12-07-1997: San Francisco 49ers 28, Minnesota Vikings 17
01-03-1998: San Francisco 49ers 38, Minnesota Vikings 22 (NFC Divisional Playoff Game)
10-24-1999: Minnesota Vikings 40, San Francisco 49ers 16
09-28-2003: Minnesota Vikings 35, San Francisco 49ers 7
11-05-2006: San Francisco 49ers 9, Minnesota Vikings 3
12-09-2007: Minnesota Vikings 27, San Francisco 49ers 7
09-27-2009: Minnesota Vikings 27, San Francisco 49ers 24
09-23-2012: Minnesota Vikings 24, San Francisco 49ers 13
09-14-2015: San Francisco 49ers 20, Minnesota Vikings 3
09-09-2018: Minnesota Vikings 24, San Francisco 49ers 16
01-11-2020: San Francisco 49ers 27, Minnesota Vikings 10 (NFC Divisional Playoff Game)
Points scored: San Francisco 49ers 1122, Minnesota Vikings 1033