The Truth About Jimmy Garoppolo
Many people point to Jimmy Garoppolo’s record as a starting quarterback in the NFL and the 49ers’ success as a team to label him a winner. Somehow, many will still say the same is true even after one of the most embarrassing performances by a starting quarterback with all pro teammates one could have on Sunday night. Here is the ugly truth about Jimmy G.
Analyzing Jimmy Garoppolo On The 49ers
The Niners have been able to advance to two NFC Conference Championship games in the Shanahan era with Jimmy G at the helm. In the years Jimmy Garoppolo suffered serious injuries, the 49ers missed the playoffs which lead people to believe that the Niners can’t win without him. This is what gives Garoppolo the winner label.
Here’s what really happened since 2019. The 49ers advanced to the Super Bowl with an elite defense and an offense that leaned on the rushing attack. In the NFC Conference Championship round against Green Bay, Jimmy Garoppolo only threw the football eight times. Running back Raheem Mostert had a historic performance finishing the day with over 200-rushing yards. In the Super Bowl, the defense held on and slowed down Patrick Mahomes more than you could expect any defense to. However, the Garoppolo led offense stalled.
With an opportunity to re-take the lead late in the big game, Jimmy G overthrew an open Emmanuel Sanders down the field for a potential go-ahead touchdown. In a chance for glory when his team needed him most, Garoppolo couldn’t answer the call.
The next season the 49ers finished 6-10 and Garoppolo only played six games. This was not as simple as the Niners missed the playoffs because their quarterback was injured. The Niners that season had the second most injuries of any NFL team over the last couple of decades. The likelihood of making the playoffs that season even with Jimmy G was very slim.
Last season, Jimmy Garoppolo had less than a two-to-one touchdown to interception ratio with 20-passing touchdowns and 12 interceptions. He also nearly threw the season away in Cincinnati when he threw a pass directly into the chest of safety Jessie Bates III that should have been intercepted and returned for a touchdown but was dropped. Luckily Deebo Samuel emerged as a star and was able to carry the load offensively. The Niners then advanced to the NFC Championship game again with Garoppolo having zero touchdown passes and two interceptions in the playoffs up to that point.
In the NFC title game last year, they had a ten-point lead similar to the Super Bowl, and the offense stalled once again after the defense did everything they could to slow down the Rams high powered offense. Garoppolo ended the season without gaining a single yard on the potential game-winning drive and throwing an interception.
The pattern here is that when the 49ers are healthy, they have a contending roster heavily reliant on their defense to win games. If Jimmy Garoppolo is having less than a two-to-one touchdown to interception ratio, is that a winning formula for most teams?
This season in Week Three we saw it on a national stage. The defense played lights out only allowing nine points and the 49ers still lost to a team that even Geno Smith and the Seattle Seahawks found a way to beat. Jimmy G struggled against the Broncos with a quarterback rating of just 14.2 and walked out of the end zone for a safety on a play that he also threw a pick-six. He also threw an interception on a potential game-winning drive and fumbled a snap earlier in the game. Losing a game in which your defense only allows nine points is absurd.
Surrounded by one of the best tight ends in football, best offensive linemen, most versatile weapons, an elite play-caller and championship-level defense, Jimmy Garoppolo is only able to be serviceable. If even that. To make things even better, Garoppolo could be seen smiling and in a good mood greeting other Broncos players immediately after the game after an abysmal performance. Jimmy G gave the Broncos two points in a game his team lost by one.
Jimmy Garoppolo may be serviceable at times and can be a decent starter in the NFL, but that is all. He does not put the team in a position to win. This elite defense and all pro weapons have put Garoppolo in a position to win and he puts the rest of his team in a position to lose. Many of the 49ers’ wins come from having to survive Jimmy G’s mistakes.
Jimmy Garoppolo is many things, but to call him a winner is certainly not true. It is time for that false narrative to end and have the truth brought into the light. Just like it was in the lights of primetime on Sunday night.