Garoppolo returns, but he is pulled at halftime, unable to rescue 49ers
A fourth- string cornerback, in his 49ers debut, kept staking the Miami Dolphins to yards and points.
The franchise quarterback, on a tender ankle, kept getting hit and became an interception machine.
By the time Brian Allen and Jimmy Garoppolo got pulled, too much damage had been done to avert one of the 49ers’ most embarrassing losses under coach Kyle Shanahan, a 43-17 faceplant to the underdog Miami Dolphins.
The 49ers (2-3) are winless in three home games, with the Los Angeles Rams (4-1) coming to Levi’s Stadium next Sunday night.
No visitor to Levi’s Stadium had scored as much as the Dolphins (2-3).
“There’s no magical thing you can say when you play like that,” Shanahan said. “I just try to hold us all accountable and know it starts with me. ... If we don’t get better, it’s going to be a long season.”
The defending NFC champion can’t win at home, it can’t play defense without a viable pass rush, and not even a full-strength offense could help Garoppolo avoid a career-worst 15.7 passer rating in his premature return from a high-ankle sprain.
With a halftime deficit of 30-7, Garoppolo was replaced in favor of C. J. Beathard.
Dolphins quar terback Ryan FItzpatrick (350 yards, three touchdowns) didn’t need his Harvard education to exploit the 49ers’ defensive weakness. Called up
Saturday from the practice squad, Allen had a disastrous debut for an injury-laden cornerback crew. This wasn’t surprising.
More stunning was how lifeless and confused the 49ers looked in their response. They had wobbled amid so much adversity the past month. The Dolphins merely tipped over their wounded opponent.
Here are the highs, lows and all you need to know: GAROPPOLO’S RETURN >> A Sept. 20 ankle injury kept Garoppolo out the past 2 1/2 games. And a 23-point halftime deficit got him out of this game, Shanahan making the move to “protect” Garoppolo.
“Just the way the whole game was going, watching how we were playing as a whole, how he was playing, you could tell he was affected by his ankle,” Shanahan said.
“I know he doesn’t normally throw the ball that way, and he was struggling a little bit because of it. The way the game was going, I wasn’t going to keep putting him in those positions, knowing we’d have to throw it a lot to come back.”
Because Nick Mullens’ turnover trifecta keyed last Sunday night’s loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, the 49ers counted on Garoppolo to rescue them from their demise, as if this was December 2017 all over again.
A week’s worth of practice did not ease his transition. His high-ankle sprain surely contributed to his poor passing (7 of 17 for 77 yards with two interceptions, three sacks and a 15.7 rating).
“I felt it. I wouldn’t say it affected everything,” Garoppolo said. “It’s one of those things you have to deal with. Tough one today. I wanted to be out there with the guys and wanted to get the win today. A lot of things didn’t go well for us.”
Said George Kittle: “We can’t just expect Jimmy to throw great passes every play. We can’t expect them to be perfect. We have to play well together and we’re not doing that.”
What the 49ers do next Sunday is anyone’s guess, more so than last week’s charade of “Garoppolo, Mullens, or Beathard”. Beathard finished 9 of 18 for 94 yards with a touchdown pass to Kendrick Bourne.
“I really haven’t thought that far ahead. We’ll take it day by day with the ankle and see how it goes,” Garoppolo said.
Before Garoppolo’s horrible first half was done, he floated two passes toward midfield that produced the first interceptions off him this season. The first was a 20-yard heave toward Jerick McKinnon, and the next was a 25-yarder toward Deebo Samuel. CORNERBACK CRISIS >> Fitzpatrick immediately attacked a 49ers cornerback crew missing its injured starters, and Allen made for easy prey in a surprise start after just coming up from the practice squad.
He gave up a 47-yard catch on the first snap, and that painted the Dolphins’ target. Allen then yielded receptions of 28, 8 and 19 yards before a 22yard touchdown reception got him benched, plus his two penalties that set up the Dolphins with firstand-goal.
It wasn’t until the fifth series that Allen got pulled for Ahkello Witherspoon, who missed the past two games with a hamstring injury and was questionable for this game. With Richard Sherman’s return from injured reserve on hold until at least next game, the 49ers also were without Emmanuel Moseley (concussion), K’Waun Williams (knee) and Dontae Johnson (groin).
Sherman and Moseley likely will return to face the Rams.
Why wait so long to bench Allen? No depth? No doubt, but that was too long. Shanahan said they weren’t going to pull Allen in the middle of a series, and that they didn’t insert Witherspoon until he himself volunteered for duty.
“Obv iously with A llen struggling a little bit, we were going to go with ( Ken) Webster. That was the plan going in,” Shanahan said. “But Ahkello went up to the defensive staff sometime in the second quarter and told them he felt good, was ready to go and wanted to go in for the challenge. I was very happy to hear that. I know he didn’t feel great but it definitely helped us with him going out there.”
Witherspoon’s pass-interference penalty perhaps explained best why he didn’t come in earlier, as he never looked for the ball while acosting his receiver. SECOND- QUARTER SPARK >> When Raheem Mostert took off on a 37-yard run down the left sideline, all seemed right in the 49ers’ universe. That burst is what the 49ers sorely missed as he, like Garoppolo, missed the past 2 1/2 games.
Mostert overcame a knee sprain to generate the offense’s best threat on an otherwise dry day. He had 11 carries for 90 yards, and three receptions for 29 yards.
His 37-yard run to the Miami 12 sparked the 49ers’ first touchdown drive. They had opened at the Miami 49 after a 17yard punt return by Trent Taylor. Eventually, Kyle Juszczyk scored untouched on a 7-yard run to pull the 49ers within 14-7.
The Dolphins responded with the next 16 points, including three field goals inside the final two minutes of the first half.