Click HERE if you’re having trouble viewing the gallery or video on your mobile device.
MINNEAPOLIS — Jimmy Garoppolo’s air of invincibility is over. His career, like his name, now has exactly one “L.”
The Minnesota Vikings ripped the Superman logo off his chest and stomped on it Sunday in their season-opening 24-16 victory at U.S. Bank Stadium. The previously undefeated quarterback threw three interceptions, including a ghastly late-game floater that ended the 49ers’ final hope.
Hardly content to sack Garoppolo three times, the Vikings also hit him one more time with a locker room quote.
“As the game goes on, you have to bring the pressure on him. You see that he’s starting to get scared,” defensive end Danielle Hunter said.
Scared? Jimmy G? He may have come over in a Halloween trade, but it was all sunshine and rainbows after that. Garoppolo went 5-0 while throwing for 1,542 yards last season.
So it was almost surreal Sunday to see Garoppolo struggle in the red zone. Or to watch him overshoot tight end George Kittle on a sure touchdown pass. Or for him to finish with a 45.1 passer rating.
Or for him to lose.
“It sucks,” Garoppolo said upon discovery.
But then he nodded his head in the direction of the 49ers locker room.
“We have a good group in there,” the quarterback continued. “We have the right mindset of watching the film, bouncing back and being ready for next week.”
This was uncharted territory for Garoppolo, having to answer questions about errant throws and wasted opportunities. So this was also the first chance to see what ticked off Jimmy G looked like.
As it turns out, he looked a lot like happy Jimmy G.
The quarterback praised coach Kyle Shanahan’s play-calling, gave a shoutout to the injury-ravaged offensive line and praised receiver Dante Pettis for doing all the work on the 49ers’ lone touchdown, a 22-yarder in the back left corner of the end zone. That cut the score to 24-13 late in the third quarter.
“I thought Dante played great the whole day,” Garoppolo said of the rookie. “On (the TD), it was kind of a broken play, but Dante found the open area and he is a smart athlete. He goes to where the ball takes him and made a tremendous catch on it.”
In all Garoppolo went 15 for 33 for 261 yards with one touchdown and three interceptions.
Tellingly, what he did not mention after his rough day was how many things went wrong beyond his control. Already playing one of the league’s top defenses, the 49ers lost starting right guard Mike Person to a foot injury in the second quarter. Person’s replacement, Joshua Garnett, then suffered the same fate at the start of the third quarter.
That left rookie right tackle Mike McGlinchey sliding over to play guard, with Garry Gilliam — who missed most of the past month with a concussion — jumping in for emergency duty at tackle. That’s hardly ideal against a team that led the NFL in total defense last season.
Instead of using the O-line shuffle as an excuse, Garoppolo used it as a platform to salute the 49ers’ first-round pick.
“I give Mike credit,” the quarterback said. “I don’t know if he’s ever played guard before, and we had to put him in there. His first NFL game having to play tackle and guard? That’s a hell of a first game.”
Garoppolo also did not mention that one of his prettiest passes of the day, a long launch to Kittle along the left sideline, bounced off the tight end’s hands. At the time, the 49ers trailed only 10-3 and the big-gainer would have put them in position to tie. Instead, on the next play after Kittle’s drop, Vikings rookie Mike Hughes cut in front of receiver Kendrick Bourne and returned an easy interception for a 28-yard touchdown.
Shanahan indicated strongly that the problem on that play had little to do with the quarterback, saying that there was miscommunication both in terms of the blocking schemes and the receiver’s route.
Going back even further: With Kittle’s drop, maybe it doesn’t happen at all.
“That leads to a pick six. That’s on my shoulders,” the tight end said. “It’s a play we hit all the time, so I am pretty disappointed in myself.”
Garoppolo made his own errors, too — a few Jimmy ‘E’s.’ Most painfully, on a third-and-goal from the 4 midway through the first quarter, Kittle sprang free all alone as he crossed the back line of the end zone.
Garoppolo spotted him but launched the ball over Kittle’s head. A reporter later asked if Kittle had any shot at bringing the ball down.
“I can’t jump 40 inches at 250 (pounds). That’s hard for me,” Kittle cracked. “But no, it was a high ball. If I was 10 pounds lighter, maybe.”
Garoppolo was disappointed at the misfire, but took solace in the fact that they seemed to have the right answers for the Vikings defense. The guy can put a pretty face on anything.
“When (Shanahan) puts us in good situations like that, we have to make the easy completion and easy catches,” he said. “All that stuff.”
The 49ers offense should have a little more breathing room in Week 2. They’ll be at home against a Detroit team coming off a short week. (The Lions play the Jets on Monday night). In contrast to the Vikings ferocious unit, Detroit finished 27th last season in total defense.
So this is when we find out about Garoppolo’s ability to rebound. And even after getting smacked around Sunday, he didn’t sound scared.
“Every person in our locker room has a great mindset of what we need to do,” Garoppolo said. “It’s a long season, so you can’t let one week bounce into the next. After we watch the film, we need to move on.”
