Jimmy Garoppolo was just four yards shy of hitting 300 passing yards on Sunday, December 12, at Cincinnati, which would have been his fourth 300-yard game in 2021.
However, he did surpass legendary San Francisco 49ers who once lined up behind center with one notable mark during the 49ers’ 26-23 overtime road win over the Bengals.
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And for Garoppolo, he hit this franchise milestone faster than any past 49er quarterback, including the ones who took the ‘Niners to the Super Bowl. What is the mark Jimmy G surpassed?
Garoppolo Now in the 10,000-Yardage Club
Garoppolo first entered Paul Brown Stadium in 2017 with 9,993 passing yards as a 49er.
Now he has 10,289 passing yards in his five seasons with the 49ers, according to Pro Football Reference.
But here’s where the 10,000 yards has career significance for Garoppolo: He accomplished that mark faster than his predecessors at the QB position in San Francisco — from Joe Montana, to Steve Young, all the way to the previous QB who took the 49ers to the Super Bowl before Garoppolo’s arrival, Colin Kaepernick.
Per Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports Bay Area, Garoppolo surpassed the 10,000-yard passing mark in 43 games — faster than previous 49er signal-callers.
Jimmy Garoppolo threw for 296 yards Sunday and became the fastest in #49ers history to go over the 10,000-yard mark. He did it in 43 games.
It took Jeff Garcia 44 games, followed by Colin Kaepernick (56), Alex Smith (58) and Joe Montana (64).
According to Maiocco, Jeff Garcia held the past best mark at 44 games. Garcia played in San Francisco for five seasons and finished his ‘Niners career with 16,408 yards. Garcia, though, hit the 10,000 mark in his first three seasons with the franchise, per Pro Football Reference.
Kaepernick played six seasons with the 49ers and finished with 12,271 yards — but hit past 10,000 in five seasons in the Bay Area.
Hall-of-Famer Montana, as mentioned by Maiocco, needed 56 games to reach past the five digit mark for aerial yards. And like Kaepernick, “Joe Cool” reached 10,000 in his fifth season with the team before settling for 35,124 franchise yards.
Though Young wasn’t mentioned in Maiocco’s post, he took the longest to get to the milestone — needing seven seasons to scale the mark. Of course, backing up Montana for his first four seasons in the Bay was one reason behind that.
Garoppolo Reclaims Efficiency in Late Quarters
On December 5 in Seattle, the mistake-prone Jimmy G showed up against the Seahawks.
Despite throwing for 299 yards and averaging 10 yards a completed pass, two Garoppolo interceptions helped derail the 49ers in that 30-23 defeat at Lumen Field.
But on December 12 in “The Queen City,” Garoppolo returned to taking better care of the football with no interceptions — plus reconnected with his efficient side during third and fourth downs especially with time wilting away in the fourth and the extended period in overtime.
Facing a third-and-10 with 20 seconds, Garoppolo hit George Kittle on this fingertip haul:
GEORGE KITTLE 😱
Then on a third-and-5, Garoppolo hit Kittle again, this time on a 9-yard connection that helped set up the winning leap from Brandon Aiyuk. The Bengals win was also a game where Garoppolo didn’t get limited to less than 15 or 10 passing attempts.
Jimmy Garoppolo had to throw 41 times and the 49ers won
His grit, especially in surviving five sacks by Cincy, led to jumping teammates postgame with CBS Sports’ AJ Ross.
Jimmy G’s @49ers teammates were a little excited after the crazy OT win over the Bengals 😂
Garoppolo told Ross, “It was a dogfight the whole game. Guys were battling. We knew it was going to be a 60 minute game. It was everything we could’ve asked for.”
Just a week before, Garoppolo’s head coach Kyle Shanahan blasted his QB, saying to reporters in a December 5 postgame press conference, “He’s got to be better with the ball.” However, the 49ers have simulated high-intensity situations before during practices where passing with efficiency is required. Those sessions have clearly helped the ‘Niners quarterback.
“We’ve done it sometimes in situations when it’s not two-minute, but it’s all or nothing when it’s those moments,” Shanahan said to the Bay Area media on Monday, December 13. “So you know he is going to make some plays and try to avoid the bad ones.”
But the question was asked: Does Garoppolo thrive better when the pressure turns up late?
“I think so. I think he does really good in those situations,” Shanahan said. “The game never seems too big for him. When you’re going fast, there’s not a lot of time to sit there and think. You just react. And usually when Jimmy’s reacting, he’s letting it rip and not hesitating and he’s pretty automatic.”
Garoppolo reacted more smartly with his throws as his head coach said. And in the process, he accomplished a major milestone faster than any other 49ers quarterback.
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Jimmy Garoppolo Hits Milestone Faster Than Past 49ers QB Greats