» 49ERS FACE PLAYOFFBOUND JAGUARS
SANTA CLARA — Jimmy Garoppolo has started his tenure with San Francisco better than any quarterback has done with a new team.
The player who brought hope to the 49ers after three-plus years of struggles in San Francisco will be in for his toughest test yet this week.
Garoppolo and the 49ers (4-10) host the playoff-bound Jacksonville Jaguars (10-4) on Sunday, facing their punishing defense that leads the NFL in fewest points allowed, most sacks and lowest yards per play against.
“I look forward to it a lot, for our whole team,” coach Kyle Shanahan said. “I do believe that they have as much qualities as anyone that it takes to win a Super Bowl; a top defense, a very good running game, a good offense, good special teams. When you see a team like that on tape that you believe has that ability, it’s a good thing, it’s a good challenge for your team to go against them and see where you’re at.”
The Niners have done quite well since making Garoppolo the starter earlier this month in Chicago. He joined Hall of Famer Y.A. Tittle as the only 49ers quarterbacks to win his first three starts with the franchise and is the first quarterback to do that with any team while throwing for at least 1,000 yards in those games, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
That performance is not lost on the Jaguars, who can clinch their first division title since 1999 with a win.
“He is a really good NFL quarterback,” coach Doug Marrone said. “We know that. That’s on film. That’s on tape. That’s not something we have to fabricate or make him seem better than he is. He’s as good as it gets right now for what’s going on around the league.”
While Garoppolo has played as well as any quarterback the past three weeks, the Jaguars have been tops in the league on defense all year with a unit modeled after the one that has been so dominant for years in Seattle.
Nick Foles facing Raiders for first time since historic game
PHILADELPHIA — Since the last time the Philadelphia Eagles saw the Oakland Raiders, Nick Foles was traded, released, contemplated retirement and returned as a backup quarterback.
Foles tied an NFL record with seven touchdown passes in Philadelphia’s 49-20 win at Oakland on Nov. 3, 2013. His performance sparked an impressive turnaround and the Eagles went 7-1 in the second half after a 3-5 start to win the NFC East title in Chip Kelly’s first season.
“Our team was trying to figure out our identity at that point,” Foles said. “We had ups and downs and we were trying to put it all together. I look back at that day as sort of our ‘aha’ moment, like we can do this, we know who we are, we know we can be explosive, and we took off at that point.”
Kelly traded Foles after the 2014 season and was fired the following year. Foles spent one season in St. Louis, another in Kansas City and returned to Philadelphia to back up Carson Wentz.
Now, he’s the starter looking to help Philadelphia (12-2) win a Super Bowl. The Eagles host the Raiders (68) on Christmas night needing a victory to secure the NFC’s No. 1 seed. They would lock it up before taking the field if the Vikings (11-3) lose at Green Bay (7-7) on Saturday night.
Filling in: The Raiders will be missing a key piece on the offensive line after Pro Bowl left tackle Donald Penn underwent surgery on his injured right foot. Penn had started 170 straight regular-season games before the injury, but did miss Oakland’s playoff game a year ago with a knee problem. The Raiders haven’t decided whether they will replace Penn with rookie David Sharpe or by moving right tackle Marshall Newhouse to the left side and inserting Vadal Alexander. Sharpe has played three snaps on offense all year and struggled in that brief time earlier this month against the Giants when Penn went down.