Incredibly, even though the Packers had no time outs left, Aaron Rodgers hit two long passes to set up the 51-yard field goal that won the game.Īrrrrgh. Leading long, last-second, come-from-behind winning drives is the gold standard for NFL quarterbacks. His final throw was a touchdown to Kyle Juszczyk with 37 seconds left. But more importantly, with 2:39 left in the game, down 28-27, Garoppolo engineered a 75-yard touchdown drive, virtually all with passes. He threw 40 passes, completing 25, for 257 yards. Lots of the 49er Faithful griped about Garoppolo after the Green Bay game - he threw a pick and fumbled once - but I’d suggest it was his best game so far. It wouldn’t be unreasonable to think he was a little dinged up after getting banged around. That was the beginning of a five-game stretch where he had his lowest QB ratings of the year. So far he’s been sacked 16 times, but four of those were in the 30-28 loss to Green Bay. People say he is “injury prone,” but he’s also prone to getting run over by 280-pound onrushing freight trains. With that in mind, here are a few truths we hold are self-evident.įirst, like quarterbacks everywhere, Garoppolo plays better when he isn’t getting knocked over. Garoppolo has a quick release, knows where to throw and has been avoiding the killer interception. When clicking, they can run the bejeebers out of the ball. They’ve been better at covering those up - a lack of pass-interference plays has been important - but those are still places where they are vulnerable.Īnd they have the same strengths. They have the same flaws - shaky secondary, offensive-line uncertainty and a defense that is always a risk to give up a big play. (Getting George Kittle back is key.) But there weren’t big changes to the roster or new offensive or defensive coordinators. So what huge changes took place to turn this team around? What happened? There’s serious talk of the 49ers in the hunt for an NFC wild-card slot, with this game with Minnesota featuring playoff implications.Īnd last week, Shanahan said not only is Jimmy the starter, he may be back next year. He was terrific in wins against the mighty Rams and the not-so-mighty Jags, to help raise their record to 5-5. Garoppolo is not only still the starter, he’s hitting one third-down conversion after another. And the words “hot seat” and “Shanahan” were all over Google. Even he was second-guessing his play-calling.
Wunderkind Trey Lance had to get in there immediately.Īnd Kyle Shanahan had completely lost his mojo. Knowledgeable pundits were announcing the team was going to replace Jimmy Garoppolo right away. They were 3-5 and everyone said the playoffs were a pipe dream. Because when Rip dozed off, the 49ers had lost five of their first eight tries, including four in a row.