Getty Jimmy Garoppolo #10 of the San Francisco 49ers.
After an embarrassing loss to the Miami Dolphins in Week 5, Jimmy Garoppolo and the San Francisco 49ers bounced back with a win over the Los Angeles Rams.
They may have won this week, but are the 49ers and Jimmy G. really back? According to several NFL and 49ers fans on Twitter, they are.
But that’s not as important as what really happened in this game. Whether this team bounced back or found their mojo, they did something a little different that night but it wasn’t out of the ordinary––they prepared all week for this.
“When you get embarrassed like that, you can find out a lot about your team,” 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan told the local media. “I was very impressed with the character of our team and the way they carried themselves and the way they came out to practice on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday and really the way they responded to all of us getting embarrassed. They tried to get better this week and not worry about anything else, and usually when you do that, you can put together those type of practices, usually the results are better, and I’m glad that they were because I thought they really earned it throughout the week and today.”
So, Jimmy G. Is Back!?
Not so fast.
If we are being real, the 49ers played on Sunday how the 49ers are supposed to play. Jimmy G. looked a lot healthier while dealing with an ankle injury and he threw shorts passes for the win.
Kyle Shanahan made Jimmy G. look good, really good with his game plan on Sunday. This was a “protect the quarterback” at all costs plan and throw strictly to receivers that are close and wide open.
Out of 33 attempts, Garoppolo only threw 10 passes that traveled more than five years down the field. Out of his 268 passing yards, 226 were runs.
Also, even more kudos to the offensive line on keeping LA’s sack monster Aaron Donald from touching Garoppolo. There were 0 sacks and 0 interceptions on San Fran, so the team executed well all together.
But this might not be enough. Teams will watch Sunday’s film and catch on to Shanahan’s scheme. Then what will he do with Garoppolo? Probably bench him considering he doesn’t have full faith in him yet if he kept G. from throwing long.
For whatever it’s worth though, the 49ers shut the haters up on Twitter and if you’re a fan it was a relief to see.
“Jimmy G is a loser”. Hasn’t loss back to back.
Jimmy Garoppolo had 268 passing yards Sunday
The #49ers had 229 yards after catch
Garoppolo’s 23 completions were thrown an average of 1.8 yards beyond the line of scrimmage
Jimmy Garoppolo’s final stat line:
23-of-33, 268 yards, 3 TDs, 0 INT, 124.3 Rtg.
After arguably the worst game of his career. What a bounce-back performance for Garoppolo.
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Other Stars Of the Show
You can’t really put all your focus on Jimmy G. in this game because there were several other areas that stood out.
For starters, Right guard Dan Brunskill and center Ben Garland did their job in keeping Aaron Donald away. Garoppolo was only rushed three times but not one sack. The line also let Raheem Mostert and JaMychal Hasty run the ball all night. The two wideouts outplayed Tevin Coleman and Jerrick Mckinnon in this game even with the two tough drops. But, we can’t all be perfect?
The defense had a heck of a game too. They pressured Rams QB Jared Goff on about 25 percent of his dropbacks. However, they only registered two quarterback hurries and had no sacks on the Rams. While the defense played well, they’re still sticky and not as good as the one we watched last season.
There’s one person who stood out the most and the biggest star of the show. That’s Kyle Shanahan. He called a genius game. He ran the ball side to side, spreading out the Rams defense, and mauled LA’s pass rush. Obviously, it wasn’t perfect and there were some questionable calls, but Jimmy G. wouldn’t look that good without him.
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