Quarterback Garoppolo just fine with supporting role in his first playoff start
SANTA CLARA >> Jimmy Garoppolo got through his first playoff start for the 49ers on Saturday, and the most important thing is he’ll get another.
Other than on the 49ers’ opening drive, Garoppolo wasn’t scintillating and didn’t need to be in a 2710 win over the Minnesota Vikings at sold-out Levi’s Stadium. He threw one interception termed by coach Kyle Shanahan a “bad turnover” and got away with it when the Vikings were held to a field goal at the end of the first half.
In the second half, Garoppolo may as well have been backup Nick Mullens, handing the ball off and watching the offense push Minnesota all over the field for 186 yards on 47 carries. He passed the ball six times in the second half and the 49ers had a 38:27 to 21:33 time of possession advantage in a game that was over in a snappy 2 hours, 49 minutes.
A win away from Super Bowl LIV in Miami, Garoppolo understands on some level more will be expected of him when the 49ers host either the Green Bay Packers or Seattle Seahawks next Sunday in the NFC championship game at Levi’s.
But judging from the smile on his face when he met the media and then his family in the hallway afterward, putting up better stats than 11 for 19 for 131 yards with one touchdown and one interception was the furthest thing from his mind.
Following Richard Sherman’s interception of a Kirk Cousins pass, setting up the 49ers at the Minnesota 44, the 49ers ran the ball eight consecutive times and wound up in the end zone on Tevin Coleman’s 2-yard run. It was 24-10, and although 4:55 remained in the third quarter, the 49ers had taken the fight out of the Vikings.
Garoppolo was officially a game manager the rest of the way, and happy about it.
“It was awesome. There was one drive where we literally didn’t pass the ball,” Garoppolo said. “It was as excited as we’ve ever been offensively. When you can do that to a team, it makes it tough on defenses. We ran the heck out of the ball and those guys up front battled their (rears) off today. It was fun.”
Seeing Garoppolo at his best as a passer was restricted to the opening drive, when he completed 5 of 6 passes for 57 yards with a 3-yard touchdown strike to Kendrick Bourne capping the possession.
The only throw Garoppolo missed was actually a drop by tight end George Kittle, his first of the season.
Other than that, you could almost sense the worry among the 49ers faithful when the 49ers led only 14-10 at halftime and Garoppolo threw a late first-half interception to linebacker Eric Kendricks on a pass intended for Deebo Samuel. The interception is nothing new. Garoppolo’s first-half interception rate of 2.7 in the first halves of games this season was eighth-worst in the NFL.
“Shoot. He threw it right to me,” Kendricks told reporters. “Honestly, it was a terrible throw. Whatever.”
It could have been a huge mistake, a game-turning error should it happen at the wrong point at some point in the next three weeks. The 49ers defense held the Vikings to a 39yard field goal by Dan Bailey, taking Garoppolo off the hook.
History tells us it’s not the end of the world that Garoppolo didn’t light up the scoreboard in his first playoff start. Joe Montana threw an interception in his first playoff game, completing 20 of 31 passes for 304 yards, two touchdowns and an interception in a 38-24 win over the New York Giants en route to the 49ers’ first Super Bowl win following the 1981 season.
When Steve Young took over in 1992, the 49ers escaped Washington 20-13, with Young going 20 for 30 for 227 yards, two touchdowns, and yes, an interception.
Garoppolo did not manage the spectacular debut of Alex Smith, who had the game of his life, going 24 of 42 for 299 yards, three touchdowns, a 28-yard touchdown run and the winning touchdown pass to Vernon Davis against the New Orleans Saints. Nor did he deliver like Colin Kaepernick in his first postseason game against Green Bay in a 45-31 triumph. Kaepernick rushed for 181 yards on 16 carries and completed 17 of 31 passes for 263 yards, two touchdowns and an interception.
The plan was never for Garoppolo to have to do that much. Shanahan told his team beforehand that the goal was to run the ball 30 times and hold the Vikings to fewer than 30 runs. Kittle said afterward he wished it would have been 50.
The 49ers didn’t need Garoppolo to put the team on his shoulders and carry them to victory.
That moment is still to come.