The 49ers moved forward as the NFC’s lone undefeated team with a 9-0 win over Washington in Week 7. Their win in the rain, mud and wind was gritty, but not enough to move them ahead of the New England Patriots. They walloped the Jets 33-0 in New York. San Francisco stayed at No. 2 in the NFL Wire power rankings behind New England.
The main source of the 49ers’ inability to sneak past the defending Super Bowl champs is quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo. His play simply hasn’t been strong enough to elevate San Francisco into the elite tier where Tom Brady and the Patriots reside according to NFL Wire’s Doug Farrar.
San Francisco’s ostensible franchise quarterback has completed 68.3% of his passes this season, but he’s also thrown six interceptions to just seven touchdown passes, and he’s been inconsistent at best when throwing deep and under pressure. Head coach Kyle Shanahan may have a Jared Goff on his hands here — a quarterback who must have a highly schemed passing game to succeed, and who doesn’t look very good outside of that. You can do some damage in the postseason with such a quarterback, but at a certain point, the 49ers are going to need Garoppolo to tear it loose outside of structure. Their season may hinge on his ability to do that.
Shanahan’s offense, in an ideal world, probably wouldn’t be as run heavy as its been. However, Garoppolo’s inconsistent play and penchant for throwing the ball to the other team has forced Shanahan to utilize his deep stable of backs on nearly 60 percent of the team’s offensive snaps.
If Garoppolo putting up MVP-like numbers is what it’ll take to push the 49ers past the Pats, they may be waiting awhile. San Francisco has a formula that’s working. They’re playing stout defense, running the ball effectively, and preserving early leads. They’ve yet to trail by more than seven points during any game this season.
The worry about Garoppolo has more to do with what he might have to do than what he’s done. He’s been exactly what San Francisco’s needed this season. He’s moved the chains and come up with big throws when he’s needed them. His game-winning touchdown pass to Dante Pettis against the Steelers comes to mind. He drilled a couple throws down the field in the rain in Washington too to kickstart the offense.
Garoppolo hasn’t been great, but he hasn’t been bad. The 49ers have a formula that simply hasn’t needed the quarterback yet. If they fall behind by more than a score, we may see a more pass-heavy attack that shines a light on how good Garoppolo can be. The quarterback and the 49ers would be just fine if it never came to that though. Victories with a scaled back passing attack count the same as the Chiefs’ pass-happy victories. As long as that’s the case, the 49ers will do what’s working.