Jimmy Garoppolo exorcises Week 1 demons

Jimmy Garoppolo on Sunday gave himself a chance to do something he’s yet to do in a 49ers uniform: get out to a fast start. After three underwhelming Week 1 performances with San Francisco, the fourth time was a charm for Garoppolo on Sunday in Detroit. He was terrific in the 49ers’ 41-33 victory and now we get to see what happens when the veteran signal caller gets off on the right foot.

Against Detroit Garoppolo looked in command of the 49ers’ offense. He was decisive, accurate and aggressive down the field en route to completing 17-of-25 throws for 314 yards and a touchdown. Per ESPN’s Nick Wagoner, Garoppolo was 5-of-5 for 184 yards and a touchdown on throws 20-plus yards down the field. He was 5-of-16 with no touchdowns and three interceptions on those throws last season.

That game was a far cry from his previous three Week 1 starts with the 49ers. Here are his numbers from those games:

2018 at MIN: 15-33, 261 yards, TD, 3 INT, 45.1 rating

2019 at TB: 18-27, 166 yards, TD, INT, 80.2 rating

2020 vs. ARZ: 19-33, 259 yards, 2 TD, 103.0 rating

The numbers from the Arizona game aren’t horrible, but he was indecisive and inaccurate while the 49ers let an early 10-0 lead slip away.

In 2018 he started to get into a rhythm against the Chiefs in Week 3, but tore his ACL and ended his season. In 2019 it took him until the middle of the season to get rolling. In 2020 he got hurt in Week 2 and never looked fully right in his comeback attempt.

This year we got something close to peak Garoppolo in the first game of the season. He showed in his only full season in 2019 that he warms up as the year goes on and really played well over the final eight games despite something of a slow start.

Perhaps Garoppolo’s stellar Week 1 was a product of the opponent and the Lions defense was just no match for the 49ers offense. That’s definitely a possibility. However, seeing him put together a very good outing against Detroit to start the year has to be encouraging for San Francisco.

If he shakes off the pattern of slow starts and gets right into warming up, Garoppolo could take the leap he was expected to make in 2020. And if he does that, the 49ers are going to score a ton of points and be difficult to beat.

There’s a long way to go, but Garoppolo is off to a hot start, which isn’t something he’s ever gotten to say. The key will be keeping it going.