The triple team: 49ers offense looks stellar; defense was mixed; injury opens a key hole
It looked like the 49ers would cruise to a blowout victory over a hapless Lions team to open the season Sunday.
Then cornerback Jason Verrett left the game with an apparent ACL tear in the fourth quarter, which shook up the sideline and caused head coach Kyle Shanahan to take starters out of the game with a big lead, fearing they too would suffer injuries on the synthetic turf at Ford Field.
“Any time you give a team a chance to get back in the game like that, it starts with me,” Shanahan told reporters afterwards. “That happened to (Verrett) I think at the 7-minute mark ... I know I became too concerned with protecting our guys as opposed to doing whatever you got do to win.
“What you got to do to win is play every single down like it’s the last down of the whole game.”
Verrett, who had a bounce-back season in 2020 following a litany of serious leg injuries to begin his career, slipped on the turf midway through the fourth quarter and was able to walk himself off the field. He was caught by the television cameras trying to walk to the locker room with anguish on his face before needing to take weight off his legs as staffers helped him get carted to the locker room.
What happened next: a furious Lions run that nearly turned a promising Week 1 performance into disaster.
Fortunately for Shanahan, his team held on to a 41-33 victory that saw a 28-point third-quarter lead become a one-score game inside the two-minute warning.
Verrett will have imaging done on his leg to confirm the injury, which amplifies concerns about depth in the secondary for an otherwise talented roster that should be considered good enough to contend in the NFC.
“It’s crushing,” Shanahan said. “I’m hoping for the best, but it’s crushing. The bad luck he’s had and putting it together these last two years, staying healthy, how good of a (training) camp he had. We got a lot of love for J.V. and respect him as much as anyone I’ve ever been around. So I’m really hurting for him.”
The 49ers scored 17 points over the final 2:30 in the first half, and it appeared they were all Shanahan’s team needed to thump the Lions.
49ers offense looks dominant
San Francisco dominated offensively through three quarters, getting big performances from receiver Deebo Samuel and rookie running back Elijah Mitchell — while lightly sprinkling in rookie quarterback Trey Lance — behind an efficient performance from starter Jimmy Garoppolo.
The 49ers’ 31 points in the first half were the most in a half since Shanahan became coach. They averaged 9.3 yards per play and had no problem moving the ball up and down the field against Detroit’s defense that ranked dead last in 2020.
Samuel told reporters: “We just got to finish the game like we started.” And on his fumble, “I actually just got too comfortable and didn’t see the guy behind me. He just made a great play.”
Samuel had nine catches for a career-high 189 yards. Mitchell, the sixth-round pick from Louisiana, in his NFL debut added 104 yards on 19 carries in relief of Raheem Mostert, who left the game with a knee injury after just two carries on the synthetic turf. Garoppolo completed 17 of 25 for 314 yards with a touchdown pass, marking his first 300-yard performance since the barn burner in New Orleans late in the 2019 regular season.
It didn’t start out well for the offense before things kicked into gear. Garoppolo mishandled the first snap of the season from new center Alex Mack, immediately giving the ball back to the Lions after they failed on a fourth-and-short run in 49ers’ territory. Garoppolo and Mack had issues handling snaps throughout training camp, though Garoppolo afterwards told reporters it was on him and he was overly excited to take the first snap of the new campaign.
But from there, it looked like it would be smooth sailing. The 49ers’ defense kept Detroit from scoring after they settled for a long field goal, which they missed.
San Francisco’s first touchdown of the season came on Lance’s first career pass. It went for 5 yards to his favorite preseason target, Trent Sherfield, who earned a prominent role on offense while last year’s first-round pick, Brandon Aiyuk, worked in a surprising bit role to begin the season.
Samuel makes Garoppolo look good
The Lions kept things close early before the 49ers avalanche late in the second quarter. They made it a 4-point game with a 49-yard field goal following tight end T.J. Hockenson’s 6-yard touchdown beating safety Jaquiski Tartt in coverage. Hockenson added a second touchdown late.
The 49ers in the first half included a slew of big plays, including Mitchell’s 38-yard touchdown. They opened up a 28-point lead in the third quarter when Garoppolo’s under thrown deep pass was adjusted to well by Samuel on a third down.
Samuel came back to catch the pass despite good coverage from cornerback Jeff Okudah, and he outran Detroit’s secondary for the 79-yard score. Garoppolo took a big hit on the play.
“As a receiver, it’s our job to make the quarterbacks look good,” Samuel said. “Even though it wasn’t a great ball, we just go out there and make plays.”
Defense mostly sturdy
San Francisco’s defense, in its debut under first-year coordinator DeMeco Ryans, allowed over 5.0 yards per carry in the first half. But defensive ends Nick Bosa and Dee Ford both made noticeable contributions in their returns from injury plagued seasons in 2020.
Ford pressured Goff before a pass was intercepted and taken back for a touchdown by linebacker Dre Greenlaw. It marked the third pick six Goff has thrown against the 49ers since 2019. Fred Warner had one in Dec. of 2019 and defensive tackle Javon Kinlaw, who did not play Sunday with a knee injury, had one last season. Greenlaw exited the game after the play with a groin injury and didn’t return.
Bosa added a sack in the third quarter and had three tackles for loss. Tartt and linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair each added two tackles behind the line of scrimmage. Ford also drew a third-down holding penalty effectively ending a Lions drive late in the first half before the 49ers blew the game open with JaMycal Hasty’s 3-yard touchdown run.
Bonus coverage: Cornerback question marks
Now the 49ers have decisions to make at cornerback.
Last week they added veteran Josh Norman, who didn’t participate in a training camp and was inactive Sunday. He might be an option to start going forward opposite Emmanuel Moseley, who missed Sunday’s game with a knee injury.
But there’s also a chance San Francisco looks outside the organization to add a possible starter or depth outside of rookies Deommodore Lenoir, who played well making his first start, and Michigan rookie Ambry Thomas, who spent Sunday returning kickoffs before getting inserted on defense the coaching staff began subbing starters out.
Shanahan said he’s had conversations with former All Pro Richard Sherman, who remains unsigned. Sherman, of course, was arrested in the offseason following a drunk driving incident and being accused of trying to break into his in-laws’ home outside of Seattle.
The good news for San Francisco: they escaped with a victory and the offense looked sharp for a majority of the game after all the offseason uncertainty surrounding the quarterback situation. The 49ers’ had 442 yards of offense, their most with Garoppolo since last season’s thumping of the Patriots on the road.
The bad news: Verrett’s injury could expose their lack of depth at cornerback, and Mostert’s injury doesn’t bode well after missing eight games last season.
Additionally, it appears Aiyuk, the first-round pick in 2020, has been passed over on the depth chart by Sherfield. And recent third-round pick, Trey Sermon, was a healthy scratch with Shanahan saying afterwards that Mitchell and JaMycal Hasty were better options heading into Week 1. Mitchell and Hasty went in the sixth round and undrafted, respectively.
This story was reported remotely as The Bee on was not on site for the game.
This story was originally published September 12, 2021 at 12:00 AM.
