Moving

Jimmy Garoppolo in NFC championship confirmed why 49ers are shifting on

The NFC championship game turned into a nightmare scenario for the 49ers. With their running game hampered and their defense struggling to get off the field, San Francisco had to turn to quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo to salvage their season, and they failed.

This was always the issue when the 49ers settled on Garoppolo in 2021. It’s also why they traded three first-round picks to move up and take on Trey Lance in this year’s draft. When the 49ers’ winning formula didn’t work, they couldn’t lean on their quarterback.

It didn’t bode well on Sunday when Garoppolo’s first throw, a third and seven throws against George Kittle on the 49er’s first drive, sailed over Kittle’s head. A better throw might have resulted in a touchdown.

Overall, it wasn’t a bad first three quarters for the QB. He went 13-to-21 for 202 yards and 2 touchdowns in that span. However, the wheels came loose when the game was balanced.

Garoppolo went 3-for-9 in the fourth quarter for 30 yards and an interception, and the game turned at a point that exposed head coach Kyle Shanahan’s lack of confidence in Garoppolo to make a play.

Early in the fourth quarter, the Rams scored a touchdown to cut the 49ers’ lead to 17-14. San Francisco cruised, looking for a touchdown that could effectively end the game. A 9-yard run by running back Elijah Mitchell on a first down put the 49ers at the Rams’ 44-yard line.

On second-and-1, Mitchell was stuffed with a loss of 1.

On the third and second full-backs, Kyle Juszczyk was brought down without a win.

Then the 49ers punted.

They didn’t even pretend to put the ball in their quarterback’s hands. Not in second or third place and certainly not in fourth. The ultra-conservative trio of calls after Mitchell got the 49ers fourth might be a flaw in Shanahan’s game calling, but it’s hard to believe it had nothing to do with the quarterback.

After that punt by the 49ers, the Rams went for 63 yards in nine games and kicked a field goal to tie the game.

What happened next was perhaps the worst-case scenario for San Francisco. You throw the ball in the air three times. All three shots were incomplete with a game penalty delay interspersed on the second relegation. None of the throws were particularly tight.

Los Angeles went down and kicked the go-ahead field goal, leaving Garoppolo with 1:46 and a time-out to orchestrate a game-timing or go-ahead drive.

What followed was another disaster. There was another incompletion, then a completion for wide receiver Jauan Jennings for minus 3 yards, and then an interception on a shovel pass that sailed high for RB JaMycal Hasty. The game was over. Garoppolo went 1-on-6 for minus 3 yards and a pick on what might be his final plays as a 49er.

That was always the problem with Garoppolo. He’s not a “bad” player. He is limited. And those limitations are easy to hide when the defense is running light and the game in progress is messing up the defense (or the special teams are scoring touchdowns). Quarterback mattered on Sunday. The 49ers needed a playmaker, and Garoppolo isn’t.

Unfortunately for Garoppolo and the 49ers, consistent winning in the modern NFL requires the quarterback to make plays when all else fails. That’s why they’re moving on and any doubts as to why the 49ers would part ways with a quarterback that took them to the NFC Championship game have been removed.

At some point, every season in the NFL will end up in QB, and San Francisco just wasn’t good enough.

Observations from the 49ers’ loss to the Rams in the NFC Championship game





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