DeForest Buckner, Fred Warner among 49ers standouts in loss to Vikings

The San Francisco 49ers may have played pretty sloppy football in their Week 1 loss to the Minnesota Vikings. But defenders DeForest Buckner and Fred Warner looked about as solid as possible in the contest.

Not everything was bad for the San Francisco 49ers during their Week 1 24-16 loss to the Minnesota Vikings.

In fact, the Niners could argue giving game balls out to third-year defensive tackle DeForest Buckner and rookie linebacker Fred Warner after their exemplary efforts in the season opener. And had either player not played up to the level seen Sunday, one could have only wondered if the game would have been far more out of San Francisco's reach.

Buckner was impressive right out of the gate, putting pressure on Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins and registering his first sack of 2018 on the seventh play of Minnesota's opening drive.

And that was just one of the 2.5 sacks Buckner had on the day. If you're counting, that's now half a sack behind the total Buckner had all of 2017. It's safe to say he'll break that mark this season.

"I think we played alright today," Buckner told reporters following the game. "We've got to clean up a lot of stuff on defense, especially tackling. We missed a lot of tackles. We made mistakes on defense too. We just have to stay more disciplined."

Still, Buckner was a massive bright spot for San Francisco.

"Nothing is different," Buckner continued. "I'm just more comfortable with the position I'm in. The coaches are putting me into positions for me to succeed, and I'm taking advantage of that every chance I get."

Buckner is right about the mistakes, though, as the Niners missed more than a fair share of tackles throughout the game, particularly early against Minnesota running back Dalvin Cook, who averaged only 2.5 yards per carry on the game but did manage a long of 15 yards on the ground to go with his 55 yards through the air.

One can only wonder what the outcome would have been like with linebacker Reuben Foster, not Brock Coyle, starting. Foster, of course, is missing the first two games of 2018 with an NFL-mandated suspension from incidents stemming from earlier this year.

But if Coyle was a liability in the contest, Warner was a massive bright spot.

Getting the start at MIKE linebacker in favor of Malcolm Smith (hamstring), Warner ended up leading all 49ers defenders with an impressive 12 tackles, including one for a loss, and a quarterback hit. He also forced a fumble, which the Niners recovered:


"He was fine," cornerback Richard Sherman said of Warner after the game. "Middle linebacker is one of the toughest positions to come in as a rookie and play and be effective. And I think he did an admirable job."

With the uncertainty surrounding Smith's durability, and now Coyle dealing with a head injury, fans will certainly be looking at a combination of Warner and Foster in Week 3, once Foster's suspension is complete.

Judging by the number of missed tackles and lanes by San Francisco's defense, hoping for a successful pairing of that duo is something the 49ers should also look forward to as well.

• Written by:
  Peter Panacy
  Peter Panacy has been writing about the 49ers since 2011 for outlets like Bleacher Report, Niner Noise, 49ers Webzone, and is occasionally heard as a guest on San Francisco's 95.7 FM The Game and the Niners' flagship station, KNBR 680. Feel free to follow him, or direct any inquiries to his Twitter account.
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  @PeterPanacy