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The San Francisco 49ers entered Monday Night Football with a ton to prove. After turning in a rough effort that drew incredible criticism from fans across social media, Kyle Shanahan was afforded an extra day to re-tool his game plan in the hopes of making the most of his offensive personnel.
Fortunately, it worked; the Niners pulled out a surprising win versus their reigning Super Bowl champion division rivals, and even after things got tested in the second quarter, when starting quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo threw three straight incompletions, Shanahan strung together a series of plays to get things back on track. When asked about this particular sequence in his Tuesday media availability, Shanahan credited his quarterback for a strong overall effort, as transcribed by 49ers Webzone.
“Yeah, Jimmy came out on fire, we had a couple mistakes, especially I think on that second play of the game with the protection issue,” Shanahan replied. “And then kept us on the field with some big third down throws. Then those ones, the three in a row, we took a shot to [TE] Charlie [Woerner] down the sideline. Just missed him. Charlie could have made a tough catch. Jimmy could have made it a little bit easier, but they just missed each other. The next play had a real good look to [WR] Ray-Ray [McCloud III] on the screen, but [Los Angeles Rams CB] Jalen Ramsey’s a pretty talented long player and he got in the passing lane and tipped it. And then on third down, Jimmy just shot a rifle to [WR] Jauan [Jennings] and it just sailed a little bit over his head. Those were probably the few that he missed in the game, but overall he played pretty good.”
Though Garoppolo is still coming back from an offseason shoulder surgery, his ability to “shoot a rifle” is an important offensive tool.
Jimmy Garoppolo Feels Good In The San Francisco 49ers’ Offense
When asked after San Francisco’s Monday Night Football win how his shoulder was feeling, Graoppolo detailed the increasing confidence in his recovery.
“Yeah, I think each week I’ll just keep getting better and better,” Garoppolo replied. “The shoulder, it’s tough during the season to get it right, but we have a long season ahead of us, so hopefully, every week it will gets better and better.”
After averaging just 7.3 yards per attempt in Week 3, Garoppolo increased that number to 8.9 in Week 4 and was able to connect on two passes of over 35 passes, which was a feat he failed to match in Week 2 or 3.
The Carolina Panthers Present A Week 5 Pass Defense Reprieve
With the task of defeating the imposing defense of the Rams now in the rearview, the 49ers will now turn their attention to the Carolina Panthers, who have a middle-of-the-road defense against the pass and an above-average defense against the run. According to Pro Football Reference, Matt Rhule’s defense ranks 12th in yards allowed at 848, 12th in passing touchdowns surrendered, 25th in rushing yards surrendered at 536, and 15th in rushing touchdowns at three.
While it may be a tad tougher to run on Carolina’s front thanks to the presence of Derrick Brown in the middle, Garoppolo should be able to throw on a secondary headlined by Donte Jackson and Jaycee Horn on his way to a third-straight 200-plus passing game.
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