Talent-wise, the San Francisco 49ers were right there with the Minnesota Vikings Sunday afternoon at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis.
Youngsters such as Fred Warner and Dante Pettis stepped up. Meanwhile, DeForest Buckner and Richard Sherman were dominating on defense.
That's the good news. The bad news? San Francisco couldn't execute worth a hill of beans in the 24-16 loss. Receivers dropped multiple touchdown passes from a quarterback in Jimmy Garoppolo who threw three interceptions himself. All the while, the 49ers' offense scored a grand total of 16 points in five trips into the red zone.
There's a lot to like about a competitive loss to a Super Bowl contender. But if these 49ers want to be taken seriously, some of the issues we saw Sunday need to be fixed rather quickly.
Here are the top takeaways from the 49ers' Week 1 loss to the Vikings.
Jimmy Garoppolo, Part Of The Problem
We're not going to sit back here and place a majority of the blame on Garoppolo for Sunday's loss. He was dealing with an injury-plagued offensive line after guards Mike Person and Josh Garnett exited with injuries. Garoppolo's receivers didn't do him any favors with the likes of Dante Pettis, Pierre Garcon and George Kittle all dropping would-be touchdown passes.
That's fine. But in today's NFL, excuses will only get you so far. Garoppolo struggled with accuracy throughout the game. He threw three interceptions, a number that could have been higher with the chances the first-year full-time starter made. Golden opportunities were left on the table, especially when San Francisco had to settle for a touchdown late in the fourth quarter after Garoppolo missed a wide open George Kittle in the end zone.
