Garoppolo brings an aura of invincibility
Jimmy Garoppolo has yet to soar over the Transamerica Pyramid in a single bound, but he does possess a superpower: He can make a 2-10 team want to extend its awful season to April.
Just ask 49ers fullback Kyle Juszczyk, who views the first 11 games in B.G. (Before Garoppolo) terms.
“It feels like a whole new season here,” Juszczyk said. “It feels like we started last week. … We wish we had more than four games left. We wish we had a full season to do this thing with him.”
Yes, the 49ers are 1-0 After Garoppolo, an epoch which opened with last Sunday’s 15-14 win at
Chicago. And now there is optimism they can win back-toback games in the same season for the first time since November 2014 when they visit Houston on Sunday.
Stats can measure the importance of a quality quarterback to an NFL team, but words can be even more effective. And what the 49ers have said since Garoppolo’s starting debut has illustrated how a player at his position can assure a terrible team everything will be OK.
Tight end Garrett Celek was wowed by Garoppolo’s talent, saying he thought, “Whoa, how did you do that?” when he threaded a 16-yard completion into triple coverage against the Bears. But when asked what was most impressive about Garoppolo, Celek began by discussing his presence, not his passing.
“Just how calm, collected and how confident he was,” Celek said. “Very confident. It’s a new offense and I know he’s still getting comfortable with it, so for him to have that presence in the huddle and just the way he was playing, I thought that was pretty big.”
Players have talked, in various ways, about an aura around Garoppolo. And there is a reason he smells of success. Before he joined a then-winless team on Oct. 30, Garoppolo spent his first three-plus seasons in New England being mentored by Tom Brady and Bill Belichick, the only quarterback and head coach, respectively, to win five Super Bowls.
And perhaps Garoppolo’s championship pedigree, coupled with his impressive debut, sent general manager John Lynch to hyperbolic heights when discussing Garoppolo on Friday on KNBR.
“I could have had five rings if I had a guy like that,” Lynch said, laughing, “because in Tampa we never had that.”
Lynch, who won one Super Bowl in a 15-year career spent primarily with the Buccaneers, probably isn’t helping the front office’s cause in negotiating a long-term contract with Garoppolo. But he’s clearly giddy after Garoppolo led the 49ers to their second road win since 2015.
“To me, I think great leaders, great players … I think the greatest quality that you can’t measure: Do they make people around them better?’ ” Lynch said on KNBR. “I don’t think you can argue that he didn’t do that for everybody on the field the other day.”
With Garoppolo, Marquise Goodwin had the most catches (eight) of his five-year career, rookie Trent Taylor had careerhighs in catches (six) and yards (92), the 49ers had their most third-down conversions (10) since 2007, and their leaky offensive line surrendered just two sacks and five quarterback hits. In addition, the 49ers had drives of 14, 11, 16 and 14 plays, which helped the defense. The 49ers allowed their fewest first downs (eight) since 2010 and their fewest net yards (147) since 2012, partly because they played their fewest snaps (36) since 1991.
The 49ers will attempt to replicate their performance against the Texans (4-8), who are having a similar season — in reverse: Houston was filled with hope before their franchise savior, rookie quarterback Deshaun Watson, suffered a torn ACL in practice in early November.
In six starts, Watson, the No. 12 pick, threw 19 touchdown passes, posted a 103 passer rating, had three wins and led an offense that scored 33, 34 and 38 points in his three losses. Houston is 1-4 since Tom Savage replaced Watson.
“There’s no doubt that Deshaun was playing, for a rookie, at a very, very high level,” said Texans head coach Bill O’Brien. “He’s a very special young man. … The glimpse of what you saw — there’s no doubt that we feel like we have a great future here with Deshaun.”
Watson, Garoppolo (102.4) and Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers (104.1) are the only QBs in NFL history who have thrown at least 125 passes to have a passer rating over 100. In addition, with a victory Sunday, Garoppolo can become the fourth active quarterback to win his four career starts, and the third 49ers QB since 1970 to win his first two road starts.
The 49ers last won consecutive games in the same season on Nov. 16 and 23, 2014, when they beat the Giants and Washington, respectively. Since those victories, they are 10-39.
They are now nearing the end of a third straight double-digitloss season, but it’s one that some players wish could be extended: It’s an example of the superpower a quarterback can possess.
“I feel like every week it’s just going to be easier and easier for (Garoppolo), and he’s just going to get more confident,” Juszczyk said. “You see how well he played in that first game — it just gets you so fired up for how much better he’s going to get.”