49ers need Brandon Aiyuk-Brock Purdy connection to shake off rust for offense to return to form

There were two receivers earning at least $30 million a year on the field on Sunday. The other had one catch for two yards at the break No, Brandon Aiyuk’s lackluster start to the season isn’t unexpected and it wasn’t the main reason the San Francisco 49ers fell to the Minnesota Vikings 23-17, the eighth straight game they’ve dropped in Minnesota. Kyle Shanahan said afterward that McCaffrey’s sore Achilles tendon needs rest and that putting him on injured reserve will force him to get that rest and, according to Shanahan, “kind of protect him from himself, too.” But it’s also clear that Aiyuk is still rounding into form and that the 49ers have been missing an over-the-top element of their passing offense they leaned heavily on last season. Brock Purdy finished with 319 passing yards, the first time he’d been over the 300-yard barrier since Week 14 in Seattle last season. But it’s evident that the magic he and Purdy had to open last season — eight catches of eight targets, 129 yards and two touchdowns in a win over the Pittsburgh Steelers — is in short supply right now.