How 49ers playing Vikings provides template to view Niners rapid growth

The Jimmy Garoppolo era for the San Francisco 49ers officially started with a Week 1 loss to the Minnesota Vikings in 2018. Now, the Garoppolo postseason march will start with a game against the very same team a year later. Niner Noise goes through how things have changed from then.

Following quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo‘s torrid 5-0 push to end the 2017 season, the San Francisco 49ers had high hopes for their quarterback and their team heading into 2018. Garoppolo had a monster contract with an even larger cap hit for that season, the Niners were billed as dark-horse contenders and it was all going to come to fruition against the Minnesota Vikings in their stadium with their new quarterback, Kirk Cousins.

That game did not turn out as anyone wanted it to.

Jimmy G threw three interceptions, one off a horrible decision and one off a miscommunication, and the 49ers allowed 342 total yards on defense. There was a rash of injuries on the offensive line, and facing a 4th-and-1 on defense with a chance to stop the Vikings and get the ball back, defensive end Solomon Thomas jumped offside.

There were some redeemable performances I wrote about back then: linebacker Fred Warner, cornerback Richard Sherman and defensive tackle DeForest Buckner all played well. But all in all, that game was a major blow to the lofty ambitions the media had imprinted on Niners fans and made it very clear the 49ers were still rebuilding.

I don’t have to explain how the rest of that season progressed (hint: it wasn’t very good), but with the Niners now guaranteed to play the Vikings, courtesy of their upset overtime Wild Card victory against the New Orleans Saints, it provides an interesting benchmark to compare those Niners to these ones.

The Vikings have not changed much from that forgettable game, but the 49ers have quite a bit. Defensive ends Nick Bosa and Dee Ford, linebackers Kwon Alexander (whose practice window had been opened) and Dre Greenlaw, a fully healthy Richard Sherman, wide receivers Emmanuel Sanders and Deebo Samuel, the list goes on and on.

It’s a testament to the 49ers’ rapid ascension in this rebuild, but a reflection of how this process was going to work. It was going to be long and hard, with ugly heartbreaking games like that along the way.

Growth in the NFL is hard to exactly quantify. Schedules are constantly changing, meaning records aren’t always the best way to determine raw progression. Opponents from before also change in meaningful ways.

But the 49ers get a unique opportunity here.

They have a chance to see just how well this rebuild has gone. An opponent who deflated hopes and expectations a year ago now stands in the way of a path to the Super Bowl. It’s hard to find a better story than that.