49ers fall:
Only bright spot for 1-10 team is last-play TD from QB-of-the-future Jimmy Garoppolo.
The 49ers and Jimmy Garoppolo didn’t get beat by the Seahawks on Sunday. They just ran out of time.
The scoreboard said the Seahawks won 24-13 at Levi’s Stadium, but give Jimmy G another five minutes to wheel and deal, and look out.
Are we getting carried away here? Jimmy fever?
Maybe, but if you follow the 49ers, as a fan or media lout, what happened in the final two minutes Sunday was a dash of Tobasco on the world’s most bland enchilada.
The 49ers’ fans feel like they’ve been waiting for Jimmy longer than those fellows in the play waited for Godot. This was his (Garoppolo’s, not Godot’s) third game since being traded to the 49ers and there was serious thought that he might not take the field until next season, and then not necessarily as a 49er.
With a minute left in the game, starter C.J. Beathard was thrown to his back and stayed down for the count. As he limped off the field, here came Garoppolo, to the cheers of the two dozen 49ers fans who weathered the rain, wind and hours of uninspiring football.
They don’t give out a Croix de Candlestick to fans who stay ’til the bitter end at Levi’s, or even a
Croix de Fiddlesticks, but this time the late birds got their reward.
The new guy took over the show on the Seattle 23. First he scrambled and slid for a 4-yard gain. Apparently his battlefield promotion was so unexpected that coach Kyle Shanahan didn’t have time to tell Garoppolo, “Whatever you do, do not run.”
Then Garoppolo hooked up with Aldrick Robinson on an 8-yard pass play. Then — ta-da! — Garoppolo scrambled out of the pocket to his left, threw over a hands-up Seahawk rusher and into the mitts of Louis Murphy in the end zone.
Murphy, who stuck around during the bye week to work with Garoppolo, said he has taken note of Garoppolo’s quick release.
“Yes, I have been noticing that all week, and for the last two or three weeks in practice,” Murphy said, “how quick the ball comes out of his hand. And how he stays alive, too.”
So is it too early to get excited about maybe seeing Garoppolo start next Sunday in Chicago, his hometown?
Of course not. Anything that will pump life in the 49ers’ show will be welcome. No QB decision has been announced by Shanahan. He’s got to assess Beathard’s injury, then make the call.
Beathard, coming off a strong game against the super-weak Giants, looked so-so Sunday and didn’t exactly lock up another start, even if he’s healthy.
If it’s Garoppolo, which is what I predict, get the popcorn ready.
The man has started only two NFL games (for the rock-solid Patriots), so his true potential is a mystery. But that cameo Sunday certainly lifted the spirits of fans, and probably of some of the 49ers’ players.
Based on the most superficial observations, Garoppolo is The Future. In postgame interviews, he carries himself with easy confidence. I wouldn’t call it swagger. More just a fellow aware but unfazed, almost nonchalant. Which would mean almost nothing had he not looked so cool on those three plays.
The challenge for Garoppolo is grasping the essentials of Shanahan’s Biblical playbook, thick as a Chicago-style pizza. We’ll see how good Shanahan is at stripping that sucker down for the new QB, giving him a workable play menu to strap onto his left forearm.
Shanahan’s massive playbook got even more massive Sunday. Beathard ran several plays out of the pistol, and Shanahan sent in about four option plays, allowing Beathard to do what he does best — take a beating.
Funny, remember when Shanahan said he wasn’t interested in having Colin Kaepernick back, because his talent for running didn’t fit into the new coach’s offense? Yet there was Beathard, running Kaepernick Right and Kaepernick Left.
Shanahan explained that the pistol and option plays were a change of pace to throw off the Seahawks.
“Not trying to make a living out of that stuff,” Shanahan said, “but you try to give them other stuff to worry about. Make some other things a bit easier.”
To which Kaepernick fans might say, “Hmmmm.”
Even Beathard, the Human Heavy Bag, said he likes the option plays.
“I like to do it,” Beathard said. “I think I can run the ball, so any time we can mix some things up for defenses to have to think about another thing, rather than just handing if off ... They have to game-plan for some zone-read stuff. I like doing it.”
Fine, C.J., but you might have to wait. This might be Jimmy G’s time to dig into the batter’s box and take his cuts. He seems ready. I asked him to assess his command of the playbook, on a video-games-level scale. Which level is he at?
“I don’t play video games,” Garoppolo said with a smile. “Sorry.”
OK, now I love the guy.