Jimmy Garoppolo tosses touchdown bomb in 49ers rout of Lions

Jimmy Garoppolo’s touchdown bomb to Deebo Samuel epitomizes what the 49ers were doing to the Lions in what’s turning into a Week 1 rout.

The San Francisco 49ers weren’t having too many problems with the Detroit Lions in Week 1 at Ford Field, but there probably were some thoughts quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo might have some troubles during the game.

First, because of a fumbled snap on the Niners’ opening possession of the game. And second, after rookie quarterback Trey Lance found the end zone, recording both his and the team’s first points of 2021.

Despite head coach Kyle Shanahan giving Lance a handful of snaps during the game, it was Garoppolo who managed to do the majority of damage for San Francisco’s offense through the air, regularly connecting with wide receiver Deebo Samuel throughout the course of the game.

Including one massive touchdown catch-and-run pickup that effectively broke it wide open for the 49ers in the third quarter.

Jimmy Garoppolo tosses touchdown bomb to Deebo Samuel

Already up 31-10 and facing 3rd-and-long in the third quarter, Garoppolo didn’t elect to go with a short attempt to try picking up the first down.

Facing a blitz and knowing Samuel would face one-on-one coverage, Garoppolo tossed a rainbow in Samuel’s direction, who made the nice adjustment and hauled in the pass despite Lions cornerback Jeff Okudah being in coverage.

From there, Samuel took it to the house for the 79-yard catch-and-run score:

That made it 38-10 in favor of the 49ers, while Garoppolo continued to rely heavily on Samuel for much of the passing attack through the air.

According to the Fox broadcast, it was also longer than any other pass play Shanahan and the Niners had during the entirety of the injury-riddled 2020 campaign.

San Francisco will look to continue its dominance over Detroit over the rest of the game, and it seems an awfully good prediction to suggest the 49ers start off this season with a 1-0 record.