The Minnesota Vikings meet the San Francisco 49ers in a Week 1 matchup at U.S. Bank Stadium on Sunday. The 49ers, lead by their new and recently ascendent quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, face the Vikings’ top-ranked defense of 2017.
During the 2018 offseason, hype around the San Francisco 49ers offense rose to a near-Super Bowl prognostication. No one had seen such press since Jim Harbaugh had been forced out of town.
Despite finishing the 2017 season at 6-10, NFL pundits took turns anointing the 49ers’ offense as suddenly having the potential to make the playoffs, win their division, and compete for the Lombardi trophy.
Why?
Because a quarterback named Jimmy Garoppolo came to town.
Traded from the world champion New England Patriots during the middle of the 2017 season, Garoppolo came to a San Francisco team being led by first-year head coach Kyle Shanahan and first-year general manager John Lynch.
At the time, fan enthusiasm was ebbing for both Shanahan and Lynch, as the 49ers were 1-10.
In the stunning trade of Garoppolo (who was highly rumored to be Tom Brady’s eventual heir as New England quarterback) a clash of titans occurred between Patriots owner Robert Kraft, who wanted to trade him, and head coach Bill Belichick, who did not want to let him go.
As the owner of the team, Kraft won and Belichick fumed, creating a rumor mill in the press that will go on for years.
But that’s another story.
Immediately, Garoppolo, the fourth-year quarterback now in a 49ers uniform, displayed his value with consecutive wins. There was a spark. Then there was another win.
Eventually, San Francisco’s new signal caller ended the 2017 season 5-0 as a starter and the Bay Area beat was on.
And there was more. Garoppolo had also won the two games he had started in New England when Brady was suspended to start the 2017 season. The 49ers now had the NFL’s next big thing, a 7-0 starter with a 99.7 career quarterback rating.