Jimmy Garoppolo faces tough test when 49ers open against Vikings

SANTA CLARA - This Sunday, Jimmy Garoppolo will face his biggest NFL test yet: The Minnesota Vikings defense.

He never has faced a defense quite like it. It ranked No. 1 in the NFL last season. The best defense Garoppolo played against belonged to the Jacksonville Jaguars last season, and it was extremely talented. It ranked No. 2.

Of course, Garoppolo shredded it.

He passed for 242 yards and two touchdowns, and the 49ers scored 44 points.

But that Jaguars defense was young and immature. After falling behind 10-0 in the first quarter, their players screamed at each other on the sideline. They fell apart. Plus, they were on the road, using the same coverage scheme the 49ers defense uses, which is the same coverage scheme Garoppolo faces in practice every day: Cover 3.

Now, Garoppolo will play on the road against a veteran defense that uses a scheme he has not seen.

“It’s a little similar to our defense in terms of their philosophy and stuff,” 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan said Wednesday, “but their coverages are a little bit different. They play more match coverages. They play a little bit more two-shell (Cover 2) than our guys. It’s not always an eight-man front. But, they have two very physical safeties that even when they are playing in a two-shell, those guys can show up very fast and it can very quickly become an eight-man front. It presents a lot of challenges.”

Cover 2 means two deep safeties, and match coverage is a hybrid man-to-man-zone-coverage scheme. The Vikings safeties are Andrew Sendejo and Pro Bowler Harrison Smith. In total, their defense has five Pro Bowlers - Smith, nose tackle Linval Joseph, defensive end Everson Griffen, linebacker Anthony Barr and cornerback Xavier Rhodes. They make up almost half of Minnesota’s defense.

“If anyone said their best talent was their D-Line or their linebackers or their secondary, I’d say whichever one you said is right,” Shanahan explained. “You could argue any of those three. They’ve got a lot of talent there with high draft picks, guys who have made second contracts.

“Then, you’ve got 11 guys that have been playing together for about four years. I know they added Sheldon Richardson as a three technique (a defensive tackle lined up between the offensive guard and offensive tackle), but the last 10 guys have been there for a while and that continuity of good talent with a good scheme is why their numbers were as good as anyone’s last year in pretty much every category.”

Last season, the Vikings allowed 3.7 yards per carry - fifth-fewest in the NFL.

Defending the pass, the Vikings were even better. They had 13 interceptions and gave up only 12 touchdowns through the air. Quarterbacks had a passer rating of just 74.9 against the Vikings in Minnesota. Jared Goff and Matthew Stafford each threw zero touchdown passes when they played in Minnesota last season. Aaron Rodgers suffered a season-ending collarbone injury.

The Vikings defense is violent, ruthless and hurts people.

“I talked about the Vikings talent and their scheme,” Shanahan said. “But, any time you play against a group that’s played together that long, 11 guys recognize plays very fast. They tee off on people because 11 guys can think very similar. That, to me, is the biggest challenge.”

Even with Garoppolo, the 49ers offense can’t present the same challenge, because it hasn’t been together long. Most of the longest-tenured players weren’t even on the team in 2016. And this year, there are four new starters - center Weston Richburg, right guard Mike Person, rookie right tackle Mike McGlinchey and running back Alfred Morris.

That’s one disadvantage.

Here’s another: The Vikings have a book on Garoppolo. Their scouting report on his tendencies is more advanced than any other team he has faced in the past. Granted, Minnesota’s scouting report contains only five starts with the 49ers, but that’s better than nothing. Call the book a pamphlet.

“He played well in all those games,” Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer said on a conference call with Bay Area reporters. “He stood under pressure and made some nice throws.”

Zimmer sounded more concerned about Shanahan’s offensive scheme than about Garoppolo. “He has always done a really nice job with the play calls, keeping you off balance, the motions and the shifts and the different snap counts. Hopefully, our guys are able to adjust to it pretty well. But, it is nice having a bunch of veteran guys who can get on the same page in a hurry with an offense this good.

“You can’t just prepare for the quarterback and not prepare for his offense. So, we’re trying to do both. Obviously, it’s difficult. We looked at Garoppolo coming out of college pretty hard. We know some things about him. He was a guy who had a strong arm. He played very confidently. A lot of the same things you’re seeing now. He moves well. He was able to fit a lot of balls into tight windows back then. It’s real similar.”

The Vikings looked at Garoppolo hard and decided not to draft him. Now, Garoppolo can get revenge.