Despite the return of Adrian Peterson to the field for the Minnesota Vikings, Carlos Hyde was the best No. 28 on the field Monday night.
Hyde rushed for 168 yards and two touchdowns as the San Francisco 49ers pulled away in the second half to an easy 20-3 victory over the Vikings.
Peterson was a non-factor in his return to the field. He rushed for just 31 yards on 10 carries and had three catches for 21 yards. Matt Asiata replaced Peterson in the backfield in hurry-up situations for the Vikings.
The game looked like the latter stages of a preseason game for the majority of the first half. Phil Dawson had a 28-yard field goal blocked by Andrew Sendejo on the 49ers opening drive of the game. After a lengthy return of the block by Marcus Sherels, the Vikings came up empty with a missed 44-yard field goal by Blair Walsh.
The 49ers finally broke through to get the first points on the board. Hyde spun away from defenders in the backfield and followed a lead block from quarterback Colin Kaepernick into the end zone to give the San Francisco 49ers a 7-0 lead.
After a 37-yard Walsh field goal got the Vikings on the board, Hyde scored on a 17-yard run to extend the 49ers lead to 17-3. Dawson added a 25-yard field goal on the 49ers ensuing possession.
Hyde is the firsts 49ers running back with 100-plus rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns in a Week 1 game since Garrison Hearst in 1998.
Kaepernick was solid for San Francisco in completing 17 of 26 passes for 165 yards. Teddy Bridgewater was decent as well for Minnesota. Bridgewater completed 23 of 32 passes for 231 yards and an interception for the Vikings. However, Minnesota was just 1-for-9 on third downs and couldn’t get the running game working.