Garoppolo delivers victory in first start
49ers fans finally know what they’ve got in signal-caller
CHICAGO — Looks like the 49ers have found their quarterback.
Jimmy Garoppolo took the field Sunday and made that abundantly clear. In his first start for a team that had won once all season, the 26-year-old looked sharp, driving the team up and down the field, making nifty throws and smart decisions. He didn’t get rattled when things looked bleak. And then he capped the day off with a game-winning, 86-yard drive that ended with a Robbie Gould field goal with 4 seconds to play and a 15-14 victory.
You couldn’t have scripted it any better.
“It’s exciting,” said Garoppolo, who grew up about 30 miles from Soldier Field as a Bears fan. “To come out with a win, especially the way we did . ... Moving forward, hopefully we’ll keep this thing going.”
Yes, it was against the Bears. And the 49ers didn’t score a touchdown all day. But there was something definitive about the way Garoppolo handled himself that cleared up any doubt about this team’s future.
Kyle Shanahan will be coaching the 49ers for the foreseeable future. Jimmy Garoppolo will be running his offense.
“I thought it was a real good first start,” said Shanahan. “He handled the offense well, definitely moved the chains and moved the ball well for us. It will be fun to get back and to watch the tape and ... be able to coach off of this stuff. It will give him a chance to get much better.”
Garoppolo looked every bit the confident field general in his first start with San Francisco. It wasn’t a spectacular performance, but you could see the man has the necessary tools to lead an NFL offense.
He has great footwork, for starters, which allows him to move around in the backfield with poise and purpose. Then there’s the arm, which he showed off on any number of out routes and downfield passes. He also has an insanely quick release, along with a variety of release points, which allows him to make plays when other quarterbacks would be on their backs. Throw in some impressive decision-making and clock-management skills and you have the makings of an above-average NFL quarterback.
On the flip side, Garoppolo and the 49ers’ offense stalled five times in the red zone. But he was also working with a minimized playbook that will only grow as Garoppolo gets more comfortable. He also didn’t get a lot of help from his teammates in those scoring situations, with dumb penalties and missed assignments contributing to the problem.
That much can be expected on a losing football team. Last-minute victories and hope for the future are unexpected developments. Garoppolo gives the 49ers the feeling that things are moving in the right direction.
“Jimmy G, man!” crowed running back Carlos Hyde. “We’ve gotta different guy back there now. He did a great job. We just got to keep this going. He was calm, poised. Making plays. I’m happy for him . ... He was definitely ready for the moment.”
Garoppolo connected on 26 of 37 passes for 293 yards. His one interception was more the fault of receiver Louis Murphy, who couldn’t prevent the ball from being ripped from his grasp. Prior to Sunday, Garoppolo had not thrown 100 passes in his four-year NFL career. He’d only started two games in all that time, spent backing up Tom Brady in New England.
So, all eyes were on Jimmy G against the Bears. Was he as good as everyone thought? Or did he just look good in the Patriots’ system? Looks like he’s as good as everyone thought.
Garoppolo looked particularly comfortable throwing to wideouts Marquise Goodwin and Trent Taylor — a combined 14-for-14 when targeting those two. Taylor made a huge play in the final drive of the game to put the team in field goal possession.
“Both of those guys stepped up huge and Jimmy gave them some good balls and those guys did a good job getting open,” said Shanahan.
One play stuck out, showing off a number of Garoppolo’s talents.
A little more than three minutes into the third quarter, Garoppolo was marching the team downfield and faced a 3rd-and-8 from the Chicago 35. He dropped back to pass and was immediately facing an oncoming defender who had come through the line untouched. Other quarterbacks might have tried to run, but Garoppolo stood strong and sidearmed a beautiful throw to Taylor for a 20-yard gain and a first down.
It was a great pass on yet another drive that fizzled out, but it showed us what we needed to know about Garoppolo.
Quick release. Poise under pressure. Strong arm. Quick thinker.
Not a bad start.
“I thought it was a real good first start. He handled the offense well.” Kyle Shanahan, 49ers head coach, on Jimmy Garoppolo’s starting debut