The Minnesota Vikings won't spend much time celebrating their upset victory over the New Orleans Saints in Sunday's Wildcard game. In fact, the team will reportedly begin preparing for their next opponent, the San Francisco 49ers, during the airplane ride home.
Spotted amidst #Vikings celebration: Harrison Smith, telling everyone to calm down. Vets remember what happened after last emotional playoff win over #Saints. Adam Thielen told me it's already been mentioned in locker room: prep for #49ers begins on plane ride home.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) January 5, 2020
The two teams will play one another on Saturday afternoon at Levi's Stadium. They didn't play each other during the regular season, with the two teams' last meeting coming during the 2018 season's opener in Minneapolis. The Vikings won that game 24-16.
A lot has changed since then. The 49ers are among the league's best teams and own the NFC's top record. They are also already quite familiar with the Vikings despite not having played them.
"We've had a lot of cross games, actually, with the Vikings, so we've seen them on tape quite a bit this year," tackle Joe Staley explained this past week. "We'll try to [advance scout] what we can, but also, it's about us getting these bonus practices, and taking advantage of the time to get your body right and get healthy, and all that stuff."
The Vikings and 49ers played four of the same opponents this season, and Minnesota played one of those opponents, the Green Bay Packers, twice.
The 49ers are getting healthy at the right time. The team expects to have veteran pass rusher Dee Ford back for their first playoff game, along with safety Jaquiski Tartt. They could also have Kwon Alexander back just under two-and-a-half months after the star linebacker suffered a torn pectoral muscle and landed on injured reserve.
The Vikings are the NFC's sixth seed and stunned the Mercedes-Benz Superdome crowd when quarterback Kirk Cousins hit tight end Kyle Rudolph for the touchdown on third-and-goal, knocking off the home-team Saints and advancing in the playoffs.