Jaguars’ defense has been ferocious
The main event Sunday at Levi’s Stadium: The Savior vs. Sacksonville.
Yes, 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, who has rescued a team recently considered a laughingstock, will face a defense so dominant it has its own nickname.
The Jaguars might not have recreated the Steel Curtain or the Purple People Eaters, but they have something special: Jacksonville will enter Levi’s sporting a 10-4 record led by the NFL’s top-ranked defense, which had four members voted to the Pro Bowl on Tuesday. Jacksonville leads the league in sacks (51) and points allowed (14.9 per game), and has made elite quarterbacks look ordinary, or worse.
Now it will face Garoppolo, who hasn’t played enough to be considered elite. Right? Actually, Jacksonville head coach Doug Marrone said he doesn’t need to reserve judgment until Garoppolo starts more than five career games or throws more than 209 passes.
“Not me,” Marrone said on a conference call with Bay Area reporters. “For me, I think he is a really good NFL quarterback. We know that. That’s on film. That’s on tape. It’s not something that 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.”
In his three starts with the 49ers, who were 1-10 before he took the job, Garoppolo is 3-0, has directed two game-winning drives and has the most passing yards (1,008) in a three-game stretch by a 49ers quarterback since Jeff Garcia in 2000.
But now the incomparable newcomer meets the immovable object: Jacksonville features Pro Bowl cornerbacks A.J. Bouye and Jalen Ramsey and four players with at least 7.5 sacks, a group led by Pro Bowl defensive tackle Calais Campbell (14.5).
Garoppolo’s first three starts have come against the Bears (eighth in total defense), Texans (25th) and Titans (13th).
“It’s a great challenge for us on Sunday,” Garoppolo said. “But every week — we just went against a great defense in Tennessee. Every week is another challenge and a different type of challenge.”
Some of the NFL’s best quarterbacks haven’t presented much of a challenge for the Jaguars.
The Jaguars have faced three Super-Bowl-winning QBs this season and gone 3-0 while outscoring them 104-40. Pittsburgh’s Ben Roethlisberger, Seattle’s Russell Wilson and Baltimore’s Joe Flacco have combined to throw three touchdowns, 10 interceptions and post a 43.1 passer rating against Jacksonville this season.
The Jaguars also boast the NFL’s top rushing attack, which is led by rookie Leonard Fournette (923 yards), who will return Sunday after a one game-absence because of a quadriceps injury. In addition, maligned quarterback Blake Bortles, widely viewed as the reason Jacksonville can’t make a serious Super Bowl run, has been as good as, well, his counterpart Sunday: Bortles and Garoppolo are the only QBs to have a 3-0 record and average 300 passing yards a game in December.
Bortles has thrown seven touchdowns with no interceptions and posted a 128.6 passer rating in his past three starts.
“I look forward to it a lot, for our whole team,” head coach Kyle Shanahan said. “I do believe they have as many qualities as anyone as far as what it takes to win a Super Bowl. … You see a team like that on tape that you believe has that ability, it’s a good challenge for your team to go against and see where you’re at.”
The 49ers don’t share Jacksonville’s Super Bowl aspirations, but Sunday’s meeting is intriguing because of this: They have a quarterback playing at a championship level.
“He’s hitting on all cylinders,” Marrone said. “He can extend plays. He can get in and out of plays. He has unbelievable accuracy. He’s doing a lot. He’s got a hot hand. He’s playing very confident. It shows on the field. It’s on the tape. He’s someone that is very dangerous and is going to be a great challenge to us on defense.”