Gratitude aplenty for present of Garoppolo
Struggles of past make way for S.F.’s brighter future
It’s not easy to shop for an NFL team that has everything, but the 49ers really should get the New England Patriots something special for Christmas.
Have you given it any thought, Kyle Shanahan?
“No, I haven’t,” Shanahan said, smiling, “but definitely they’re on my good side right now.”
Perhaps the 49ers’ head coach is intimidated by the prospect: How does one reciprocate when a dynasty giftwraps a franchise savior and requests only a second-round pick in return?
On Monday, Shanahan spoke a day after quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo continued to make the Oct. 30 trade resemble a historic fleecing: After leading a game-winning drive in a 25-23 decision over the Titans, Garoppolo has given the 49ers three wins in his three starts, along with a belief that their rebuilding
project won’t be nearly as long and painful as their 0-9 start portended.
“I think we’re building something here,” left tackle Joe Staley told reporters Sunday.
Then, less than an hour later, Staley let loose with words that better captured the excitement Garoppolo has inspired for a 4-10 team: “Jimmy Geeeeeeeee,” Staley said, via Twitter. “Building something special here.”
Garoppolo looks like a special player. He has become the first quarterback since Ben Roethlisberger in 2004 to win his first five career starts, and he has led the 49ers to at least 388 yards in three straight games for the first time since 2003. He is one of three quarterbacks with 200 career attempts to have a passer rating over 100, and he’s had as many game-winning drives (three) in his five starts as Joe Montana had in his first 20.
“He learned from the best, Tom Brady,” guard Brandon Fusco said, referring to Garoppolo’s mentor with the Patriots. “And you can see that it’s rubbing off on him.”
Garoppolo’s brilliance caused a reporter to jokingly say, “He looks like the greatest quarterback of all time right now” while asking Shanahan about the puny sample size: How many games does a quarterback need to play before he can be placed among the elite?
“I definitely can't put a number on that,” Shanahan said. “I mean, Jimmy, it’s been great. … There’s going to be a time that he goes through adversity. I’m sure some day he will lose, and guys have rough games.”
Garoppolo’s roughest challenge as a member of the 49ers will arrive Sunday when Jacksonville (10-4) visits Levi’s Stadium. The Jaguars lead the AFC South and are headlined by a potentially historic defense: They lead the NFL in points allowed (14.9 per game), sacks (51) and are second in takeaways (31) behind Baltimore (33). No team has led the NFL in all three categories.
In addition, their passing defense is tops in fewest yards allowed (168.9), yards per attempt (5.9) and passer rating (65.2).
“When you look at teams that have those type of numbers, they have as good a chance as anyone to go all the way,” Shanahan said. “I know it’ll be a huge challenge for us.”
Shanahan certainly wants Garoppolo to meet the challenge, but there will be a silver lining if his storybook start is interrupted. Shanahan repeatedly has said that great quarterbacks can handle the pressure, scrutiny and inevitable adversity that come with the position. On Monday, he pointed to Brady.
“Whatever the two or three games that Tom has had that haven’t been very good, usually the next day people are saying, ‘All right, he might be getting older,’ and then he usually finishes the year with an MVP and a Super Bowl trophy,” Shanahan said. “In order to see how guys are doing, you’ve got to see how they respond to adversity and how they can do it over the long haul. Jimmy is going to get that opportunity, and we’ll see. And I feel pretty confident he’ll handle it the right way.” Briefly: Wide receiver Aldrick Robinson and safety Adrian Colbert are in the concussion protocol after Sunday’s game. Shanahan said Colbert has postgame symptoms that persisted Monday morning.