It was an emotional night for the Magpies, who rallied around Howe on Friday following his horrific collision with Cats forward Tyson Stengle in a marking contest.
Brothers Josh and Nick Daicos also starred for Collingwood the day after the funeral of their grandfather.
He was the father of Collingwood great Peter Daicos, who emotionally hugged his two sons in the rooms post-match.
Howe, 32, faces an extended spell out of football after fracturing his left forearm.
The collision with Stengle sent him flying in the air and he landed heavily on the arm.
Howe was in agony after the third-term collision and play was held up for several minutes until he was stretchered off the field.
The Seven Network opted not to show replays of the incident.
Coach Craig McRae and new captain Darcy Moore paid tribute to the key defender, while Collingwood players made a point of going to Howe as a group before he left the field.
"We all love him. So when you see one of the guys go down - and one of the really good guys - you think that's going to be a cost somewhere," Howe said.
"But the players' reaction to that, we're a connected group."
Moore was emotional immediately after the game, telling the Seven Network it was heartbreaking to see Howe injured.
"It's pretty distressing and it's pretty messed up. We have to forget about it and get on with the job," Moore said.
"It's a horrible part of the game, but we expect nothing less than Jeremy, he's an incredible teammate and he puts his body on the line."
McRae also paid tribute to the Daicos brothers, saying they had handled a tough week well.
"We're human beings, this goes beyond the boundary line," he said.
"They're two of our most important players and young men we want to put our arms around.
"Family first - that's our approach to it."
The Magpies overran Geelong from a few minutes after Howe's injury, kicking the last eight goals of the game to win by 22 points.
"I had great belief coming here tonight ... really excited for what could be, knowing we'd done the work," McRae said.
"You can only get belief through evidence and the evidence was that we've had an enormous pre-season.
"We're under no illusion, it's round one. There are no patterns of behaviour yet.
"But it's nice to beat the reigning premiers. It's a good start."
McRae noted that while it was Collingwood's highest score since 2018, when they made the grand final, they also gave up 16 goals.
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