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Camryn Bynum Saves Vikings' Victory Over 49ers

Former Cal star comes up with two big interceptions in the fourth quarter
Jake Curtis|
Camryn Bynum Saves Vikings' Victory Over 49ers
Camryn Bynum Saves Vikings' Victory Over 49ers

Safety Camryn Bynum was the defensive star of the Minnesota Vikings' 22-17 victory over the San Francisco 49ers Monday night on the Vikings home field.

Bynum had nine tackles in the game, keeping him among the league leaders in that category, but that was incidental to his two fourth-quarter interceptions, which sealed the victory for the Vikings, who improved to 3-4 by winning their second   straight game.

And he did it against a 49ers team that is considered a strong contender for the Super Bowl, although this loss was their second straight defeat and put their record at 5-2.

Bynum was a four-year starter at cornerback at Cal before being shifted to safety in the NFL, and he demonstrated his skills as a safety with two game-changing plays in the late stages of Monday's game.

The first game with 5:30 left in the game. The Vikings held a tenuous 22-17 lead when 49ers had the ball at the Minnesota 49-yard line.  That is when Bynum intercepted a Brock Purdy pass, grabbing the ball just before it hit the ground at the Vikings' 30-yard line.

And the interesting worm celebration followed.

"That was a huge, huge play," Vikings coach Kevin O'Connell said.

The Vikings took the resulting possession to the 49ers 32-yard line, but Vikings kicker Greg Joseph missed a 50-yard field goal attempt, giving the ball back to the 49ers at their 40-yard line with 1:11 remaining, down by five points.

The 49ers drove to the Vikings' 40-yard line, but on a second-and-10 play from there with 33 seconds left, Bynum made a leaping interception of a Purdy pass at the Minnesota 22-yard line.

That essentially ended the game as the 49ers were out of timeouts, and Minnesota merely needed to kneel down to seal its first home win of the season.

Those were Bynum's first two interceptions of the season, and they came against Purdy, who had thrown only one interception all year and led the NFL in passer rating entering the game.

Bynum also has 69 tackles for the season, which ranks as the fifth-most in the league and is easily the most by a non-linebacker.  

Bynum showed his tackling skills early in Monday's game when he forced a fumble by Christian McCaffrey at the Vikings' 12-yard line and Minnesota recovered.

Bynum said in this postgame interview that he has more celebrations in his playbook besides the worm he performed after his first pick. He also took time to plug his foundation for the Philippines. His wife is stuck there because of visa issues.

Cover photo of Camryn Bynum by Brad Rempel, USA TODAY Sports

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Jake Curtis
JAKE CURTIS

Jake Curtis worked in the San Francisco Chronicle sports department for 27 years, covering virtually every sport, including numerous Final Fours, several college football national championship games, an NBA Finals, world championship boxing matches and a World Cup. He was a Cal beat writer for many of those years, and won awards for his feature stories.

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