A’s sweep Texas, close in on Yankees.
Garoppolo now 7-1 as starter (5-1 as a 49er) after sloppy opener
MINNEAPOLIS >> The flash point to Jimmy Garoppolo’s firstever loss as a starting quarterback wasn’t purely his fault, even if he requested a share of blame after the 49ers’ 2416, season-opening defeat Sunday against the Minnesota Vikings.
Of Garoppolo’s career-high three interceptions, the first was most damaging, a gift that rookie Mike Hughes returned 28 yards for a touchdown and an insurmountable, 17-3 lead in the third quarter.
That play defined this defeat, more so than Alfred Morris’ fumble at the Vikings 1 or George Kittle’s down-field drop or any other 49ers’ miscue. And there were plenty, especially in the red zone.
That first interception came on a pass Garoppolo intended for Kendrick Bourne, a secondyear wide receiver who admitted afterward how badly he botched the play.
“I actually ran the wrong route. I was just thinking of another play,” Bourne said. “Jimmy, his read was right and
totally on. I was just off. I’ve got to be on top of that stuff. I should know that.”
But it wasn’t all Bourne’s
fault, just as it wasn’t all Garoppolo’s, nor was it all on a short-staffed offensive line.
When that fateful play began, Garoppolo stood in the pocket as three Vikings pass rusher charged in hard from his right. The offensive line earlier had lost right guards Mike Person and his replacement, Joshua Garnett, to foot injuries, so top draft pick Mike McGlinchey shifted over from right tackle and yielded that spot to Garry Gilliam, the only lineman left on the bench.
“As the game goes on, you have to bring the pressure on him,” Vikings defensive end Danielle Hunter said of Garoppolo. “You see that he’s starting to get scared.”
That’s a damning indictment. There’s more to the story.
“There was miscommunication in protections and in routes,” Shanahan said. “We had our lineup change right there, so the protection got messed up. We had a hot situation when we shouldn’t have been hot. So Jimmy got surprised from it, had to get rid of it, and had miscommunication with the route.”
Garoppolo, ever-willing to take a punishing hit, hung in there long enough to uncork a pass toward Bourne, who was in to give Pierre Garcon a breather. Bourne stutter-stepped and then slipped while attempting to cut inside too late.
That allowed Hughes to make the interception, and as he coasted across the goal line, Garoppolo stood in disbelief.
Afterward, in a brief
chat on the 49ers sideline, Garoppolo did not lash out at Bourne.
“What are you supposed to say at that point? It is what it is,” Garoppolo said. “It’s both our faults. Anytime you throw an interception it’s always on the quarterback.”
“It was kind of, ‘I owe him one.’ He wasn’t mad at me or nothing,” Bourne said. “He was cool, like, ‘You’ve got it. You’re good. Move on to the next play.’ “
On the ensuing plays, the 49ers tried to rally behind Garoppolo, just as they did last season in producing comeback wins over the Chicago Bears and Tennessee Titans. But ...
“When you’re 1 of 4 in the red zone, when you lose the turnover battle 3-1, when you have some of those drops and missed plays, it’s very hard to beat a good team,” Shanahan said. “That’s why it was so frustrating. We blew a lot of opportunities that you can not do against a good team, especially on the road.”
Defensively, the 49ers had mixed results. DeForest Buckner had 2 ½ sacks, rookie linebacker Fred Warner forced a fumble, Richard Sherman debuted well, but Kirk Cousins proved too effective in his Vikings debut (20-of36, 244 yards, 2 touchdowns, 0 interceptions).
A precursor to the 49ers’ doom was Morris’ first-half fumble at the Vikings 1-yard line. As for Kittle’s drop, it came one snap before Hughes’ picksix. Both players took accountability for their errors afterward.
Simply, Garoppolo (15 of 33, 261 yards, one touchdown) didn’t get enough help as he tried preserving what had been a 7-0 record as a starter, including
his 5-0 December debut for the 49ers that garnered him a massive contract (five years, $137.5 million).
Although Garoppolo pulled the 49ers within 24-13 on a 22-yard touchdown pass to Dante Pettis, the Vikings came away with two interceptions in the fourth quarter, and Garoppolo acknowledged he got a bit reckless trying to force the final one over the middle.
“With all the things that went bad, we still had a shot at the end there,” Garoppolo said. “It’s a tough way to end it.”
RED ZONE WOES >> The 49ers had the league’s sixth-worst red-zone offense a year ago, converting 47 percent of such drives into touchdowns. On Sunday, they were 1 of 4, having to settle for three Robbie Gould field goals after promising drives.
The 49ers were a yard away from their first touchdown of the season when Morris lost a fumble 2:18 before halftime, forced by nose tackle Linval Joseph. “It wasn’t like he did anything special,” Morris said. “It was me wanting more, and not locking the ball up.”
That ended a 14-play, 70-yard drive which started after linebacker Fred Warner forced a Vikings fumble, recovered by Richard Sherman. Morris had four carries once the 49ers reached the Vikings 5.
On the 49ers final redzone drive, a third-andgoal pass sailed too high for George Kittle in the back of the end zone.
“I can’t jump 40 inches at 250 (pounds). That’s hard for me,” Kittle said. “But no, it was a high ball. I wish I could have caught it.”