Jimmy Garoppolo and the 49ers made a major statement Saturday night against the Rams. (Photo by ... [+]
Jimmy Garoppolo and the San Francisco 49ers’ offense faced two 3rd-and-16 opportunities with the game tied late in the fourth quarter. Each time, a struggling Garoppolo made the exact throw to lead the 49ers to a 34-31 win over the Los Angeles Rams.
San Francisco fell down by two scores multiple times. But much like the Saints game back in Week 14, the offense stepped up and did its thing.
Garoppolo completed 1o-of-18 passes for 114 yards with two interceptions in the first three quarters. With the 49ers’ hopes for home-field advantage through the NFC Playoffs on the line, Garoppolo proceeded to complete 6-of-9 passes for 134 yards with a 146.8 rating in the fourth quarter.
Joe Montana would be proud. The clutch gene was alive and well at Levi’s as San Francisco inched closer to the No. 1 seed while eliminating the defending NFC champs from the playoffs.
Takeaways? We have them here
Jimmy Garoppolo Is The Question And The Solution
Garoppolo’s first interception of the game into the hands of Jalen Ramsey was absolutely atrocious. Earlier in the game, Garoppolo missed George Kittle on a would-be touchdown. Having played the best ball of his career over the past half of the season, Garoppolo did not have it, at all.
At least, through the first three quarters of the game. He went full Jimmy GQ or Joe Cool in that final stanza. This included a third-and-16 completion to Kendrick Bourne to move the sticks as San Francisco needed to fend off the Rams offense and inch close to a game-winning field goal.
Later in the same game-ending drive, Garoppolo faced another third-and-16. History can’t repeat itself, right? Wrong. Garoppolo hit Emmanuel Sanders on a 46-yard pass.
The coverage was blown. Fine. But it’s still an amazing pass. Tied at 31 with less than a minute left, San Francisco ran the ball twice before Robbie Gould won the game as time expired with a 33-yard field goal.
We got the bad of Garoppolo for three quarters on Sunday. We also got the Garoppolo that makes us believe for the final quarter. The same signal caller who is now 20-5 as a starter in his career.
Must Play Better On Defense
San Francisco will not be hoisting its sixth Super Bowl trophy in February if the defense doesn’t play better than what we’ve seen over the past few weeks. Having put up a Pro Bowl caliber season, third-year cornerback Ahkello Witherspoon was lost throughout the game. Some really ugly stuff.
Replacing an injured Jaquiski Tartt for the third consecutive game, Marcell Harris was taken advantage of. The contrast between him and Tartt could not be more apparent.
Meanwhile, Nick Bosa made an impact despite seeing himself with two or three blockers engaging at certain points. The 49ers must play better. Their stars must stand up. The role players have to help the stars. It all starts on defense. And if this doesn’t change, January football will be a short trip for the 49ers.
Resiliant Group
George Kittle and the 49ers’ offense knows when it has to make big plays. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty ... [+]
For as many flaws the 49ers have on offense (no No. 1 receiver, a backfield by committee, an inconsistent quarterback), we can name them all...this unit is resiliant. For the duration of the season, San Francisco’s offense has answered the call when asked to. It was two weeks ago that the 49ers could not stop Drew Brees. Garoppolo and Co. answered by outscoring the Saints.
That pick-six from Fred Warner late in the second quarter was amazing. It changed the tone of the game. It’s an example of a defense that struggled actually making a play of epic proportions.
Down multiple scores throughout the first half, San Francisco’s offense went on consecutive 75-yard touchdown scoring drives. The Warner pick gave this team the lead into the half.
With the offense bogged down to start the second half, San Francisco’s defense held the Rams to 125 yards in the final two quarters. San Francisco’s offense picked it up at the end for the win.
It’s the same type of resilient effort we’ve seen from the 49ers all season, and it has them at 12-3 on the year. That’s as many games as San Francisco won from 2016-18.
Bottom Line
The San Francisco 49ers are now 12-3. (Photo by Michael Zagaris/San Francisco 49ers/Getty Images)
It was ugly. It was infuriating at times. But in the end, San Francisco did enough to win. It moves to 12-3 and puts pressure on the other conference title contenders later this weekend.
In the end, these 49ers will have to win in Seattle next week to earn the NFC West title and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. They knew this heading in. Nothing on Saturday night at Levi’s Stadium changed this.
The one thing that did change is that these 49ers proved they could rebound. Despite a questionable overall game , they made a statement on national television. In the process, Kyle Shanahan’s squad eliminated the Rams from playoff contention. It was a nice pre-holiday gift for the 49ers in Santa Clara Saturday night.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/vincentfrank/2019/12/22/nfl-week-16-49ers-take-out-rams-in-dramatic-fashion/
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