Week 3: 49ers @ Denver

[thesack12]

Jimmy is all smiles after the game. He has no commitment to this team so he’s just out there playing. He can go out, play horribly and be happy afterwards

That or he was greeting one of his former teammates after the game, that he probably hasn't seen for awhile

I’ve never lost a football game and smiled immediately afterward. I don’t think Bosa would be smiling, or Deebo, Or Aiyuk, Or Warner

Dude, you are trying to find fuel to hate the guy.

Jimmy and Fleming were teammates in New England, for all we know they are close friends. If them sharing a warm moment after seeing each other bothers you, then so be it. But it literally means nothing in the grand scheme of the outlook of this team.

[thesack12]

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Wouldn't be the worst outcome, but still likely to require a 3-4 week absence and those things have the tendency to linger and impact performance for several more weeks after returning.

We saw what a high ankle sprain hobbled Trent Williams looks like in the NFCCG, so as crucial as he is, probably just need to bite the bullet and put him on short term IR and try to survive the 4 game absence.

[CalamityX12]

we have a beautiful defense.... we are blessed for a championship quality defensive gem we have going...

[CalamityX12]

I can't believe how **** we played on offense.

its pure believable... its insane to believe that it keeps happening without significant remedies or adjustments to stop this madness.

[Jikkle]

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It's why I'm split on Shanahan right now because there are plays to be made and the whole reason they are trying to move on from Jimmy is they want a QB that will make them.

Whether Lance will be that guy is up for debate but we know Jimmy isn't that guy as he's pretty much just the same ole Jimmy.

It's just in 6 years the offense still hasn't hit a consistent stride yet and is that all just on the QB?

[Samurai]

In response to the questions of why Lenoir got the nod over Womack at nickel corner, Shanahan said it was because Lenoir has been so sharp in practice. Against Denver, he was targeted 7 times and allowed 5 catches for 32 yards. He was also flagged for an obvious 3rd down holding penalty to give Denver an automatic first down. Shanahan said he was real happy with how he played and that he felt he was one of the better guys on the field. So I would expect Lenoir to again get the nod against the Rams and Cooper Kupp.

[CrimsonCrew]

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It's why I'm split on Shanahan right now because there are plays to be made and the whole reason they are trying to move on from Jimmy is they want a QB that will make them.

Whether Lance will be that guy is up for debate but we know Jimmy isn't that guy as he's pretty much just the same ole Jimmy.

It's just in 6 years the offense still hasn't hit a consistent stride yet and is that all just on the QB?

Yeah, this has me a bit torn, too. Shanahan is drawing up effective plays, but at least last week, Jimmy wasn't hitting them.

[Jikkle]

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It's why I'm split on Shanahan right now because there are plays to be made and the whole reason they are trying to move on from Jimmy is they want a QB that will make them.

Whether Lance will be that guy is up for debate but we know Jimmy isn't that guy as he's pretty much just the same ole Jimmy.

It's just in 6 years the offense still hasn't hit a consistent stride yet and is that all just on the QB?

Yeah, this has me a bit torn, too. Shanahan is drawing up effective plays, but at least last week, Jimmy wasn't hitting them.

Shanahan had some bad play calls too but Jimmy just makes them worse with his refusal to throw the ball away.

The safety was a prime example of this. It's a terrible play call but Jimmy made it even worse by not just deciding to chuck the ball out of bounds. Once the pressure started coming instead of backing up when you should know you don't have the space and then throwing to a covered receiver that even if you somehow complete it barely gets you a yard or two just throw it out of bounds and live to fight another day.

[CrimsonCrew]

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It's why I'm split on Shanahan right now because there are plays to be made and the whole reason they are trying to move on from Jimmy is they want a QB that will make them.

Whether Lance will be that guy is up for debate but we know Jimmy isn't that guy as he's pretty much just the same ole Jimmy.

It's just in 6 years the offense still hasn't hit a consistent stride yet and is that all just on the QB?

Yeah, this has me a bit torn, too. Shanahan is drawing up effective plays, but at least last week, Jimmy wasn't hitting them.

Shanahan had some bad play calls too but Jimmy just makes them worse with his refusal to throw the ball away.

The safety was a prime example of this. It's a terrible play call but Jimmy made it even worse by not just deciding to chuck the ball out of bounds. Once the pressure started coming instead of backing up when you should know you don't have the space and then throwing to a covered receiver that even if you somehow complete it barely gets you a yard or two just throw it out of bounds and live to fight another day.

That INT was one of the worst decisions I've ever seen. He had no idea he had stepped out, so he was legitimately trying to make something happen. And as we often see with Jimmy, it took a bad but not awful situation and made it infinitely worse. We were up 7-3 at that time. Their offense had done nothing. It was second down. Just throw it over Wilson's head. Instead, he tried to force a ball to a tightly covered RB on the one-yard line.

The INT at the end of the game was similar. It was first and ten. We were trailing by one point. There was tons of time on the clock. And he forced it into a double-covered receiver for an easy takeaway.

That's the primary reason why Garoppolo has to go. I've said it before, but you can deal with the physical limitations. You can deal with the occasionally errant throws. You can deal even deal with his lack of vision or ability to improvise. But you simply cannot combine those things with a penchant for just handing the ball to the defense on a silver platter two or more times a game.

[CrimsonCrew]

That or he was greeting one of his former teammates after the game, that he probably hasn't seen for awhile

I’ve never lost a football game and smiled immediately afterward. I don’t think Bosa would be smiling, or Deebo, Or Aiyuk, Or Warner

Dude, you are trying to find fuel to hate the guy.

Jimmy and Fleming were teammates in New England, for all we know they are close friends. If them sharing a warm moment after seeing each other bothers you, then so be it. But it literally means nothing in the grand scheme of the outlook of this team.

Yes and no. Look, a lot of NFL players react to losses differently than we do as fans, or than we did when we played football or other sports at whatever level. That's to be expected to an extent. At the end of the day, this is a job for them, and life goes on. But Jimmy's reactions after games have rubbed me the wrong way in the past. I'm all for a short memory, but Jimmy forgets his mistakes and then repeats them. Over, and over, and over. I think Trey's reaction after the Chicago game was a good counterpoint. Trey shouldered the blame, as you'd like to see a QB do. "I was awful. I missed these plays." And then he listed them, showing that he was still thinking about them. Jimmy has ALWAYS had the milquetoast answers of, "WE didn't execute. The team left a lot of opportunities on the table."

As far as I'm concerned, I want the Trey approach. Here's what I did wrong, and I'm going to obsess over it until I figure out how not to do those things. If we lose a game, it's my fault no matter what else went wrong around me, and I'm going to work on it to prevent it from happening again. We've never had that from Jimmy, and I think it's one of the reasons he's not the guy.

[wco81]

Yeah, this has me a bit torn, too. Shanahan is drawing up effective plays, but at least last week, Jimmy wasn't hitting them.

Shanahan had some bad play calls too but Jimmy just makes them worse with his refusal to throw the ball away.

The safety was a prime example of this. It's a terrible play call but Jimmy made it even worse by not just deciding to chuck the ball out of bounds. Once the pressure started coming instead of backing up when you should know you don't have the space and then throwing to a covered receiver that even if you somehow complete it barely gets you a yard or two just throw it out of bounds and live to fight another day.

That INT was one of the worst decisions I've ever seen. He had no idea he had stepped out, so he was legitimately trying to make something happen. And as we often see with Jimmy, it took a bad but not awful situation and made it infinitely worse. We were up 7-3 at that time. Their offense had done nothing. It was second down. Just throw it over Wilson's head. Instead, he tried to force a ball to a tightly covered RB on the one-yard line.

The INT at the end of the game was similar. It was first and ten. We were trailing by one point. There was tons of time on the clock. And he forced it into a double-covered receiver for an easy takeaway.

That's the primary reason why Garoppolo has to go. I've said it before, but you can deal with the physical limitations. You can deal with the occasionally errant throws. You can deal even deal with his lack of vision or ability to improvise. But you simply cannot combine those things with a penchant for just handing the ball to the defense on a silver platter two or more times a game.

Here's the thing though, he was developed by the Pats who teach their QBs to throw the ball away.

Brady will do it all the time especially on screen passes. Jones does it too, though he is now showing a tendency early in his second season of forcing the ball downfield.

So how did this training by the Pats all of a sudden abandon him?

Is Kyle telling him there's always a safety valve so don't throw balls away?

[CrimsonCrew]

I can't imagine that Kyle wants him to force balls in that situation.

[Jikkle]

Shanahan had some bad play calls too but Jimmy just makes them worse with his refusal to throw the ball away.

The safety was a prime example of this. It's a terrible play call but Jimmy made it even worse by not just deciding to chuck the ball out of bounds. Once the pressure started coming instead of backing up when you should know you don't have the space and then throwing to a covered receiver that even if you somehow complete it barely gets you a yard or two just throw it out of bounds and live to fight another day.

That INT was one of the worst decisions I've ever seen. He had no idea he had stepped out, so he was legitimately trying to make something happen. And as we often see with Jimmy, it took a bad but not awful situation and made it infinitely worse. We were up 7-3 at that time. Their offense had done nothing. It was second down. Just throw it over Wilson's head. Instead, he tried to force a ball to a tightly covered RB on the one-yard line.

The INT at the end of the game was similar. It was first and ten. We were trailing by one point. There was tons of time on the clock. And he forced it into a double-covered receiver for an easy takeaway.

That's the primary reason why Garoppolo has to go. I've said it before, but you can deal with the physical limitations. You can deal with the occasionally errant throws. You can deal even deal with his lack of vision or ability to improvise. But you simply cannot combine those things with a penchant for just handing the ball to the defense on a silver platter two or more times a game.

Here's the thing though, he was developed by the Pats who teach their QBs to throw the ball away.

Brady will do it all the time especially on screen passes. Jones does it too, though he is now showing a tendency early in his second season of forcing the ball downfield.

So how did this training by the Pats all of a sudden abandon him?

Is Kyle telling him there's always a safety valve so don't throw balls away?

We didn't see enough of him with the Pats to see if the training even stuck. You'd also have to go back and see how other QBs that Shanahan have coached operated to really get a feel if it's a Shanahan thing or a Jimmy G thing.

But I'd guess it's a Jimmy G thing because I don't think there is a question that he doesn't have a high football IQ. It's difficult for me to believe a coach that is more on the conservative side than the aggressive side is going to want his QB to make risky throws for the sake of not throwing the ball away.

Like with the safety play I can't imagine Shanahan ever wanting anything other than throwing the ball away in that situation. And I can't imagine he'd want Jimmy to throw into double coverage. Pretty much every coach would rather a QB throw the ball away than throw a high risk, low reward pass.

[Jikkle]

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[wco81]

Like I said, he played better for the Pats and when he first got to the 49ers, when they finished 6-0, than he has since.

He was just more decisive but maybe the first reads were getting easily open that year.

They tried a couple of bobble screens and in both cases, the ball went over the WR's outstretched hands but for some reason, they jumped towards him or towards the inside.

Were they anxious to get the ball or was the blocking set up to the inside rather than towards the sidelines?

It was Jennings and Aiyuk I believe, interesting that both WRs, instead of waiting for the ball ran and jumped towards the inside.

[CrimsonCrew]

Like I said, he played better for the Pats and when he first got to the 49ers, when they finished 6-0, than he has since.

He was just more decisive but maybe the first reads were getting easily open that year.

They tried a couple of bobble screens and in both cases, the ball went over the WR's outstretched hands but for some reason, they jumped towards him or towards the inside.

Were they anxious to get the ball or was the blocking set up to the inside rather than towards the sidelines?

It was Jennings and Aiyuk I believe, interesting that both WRs, instead of waiting for the ball ran and jumped towards the inside.

I've been giving 2017 a fair bit of thought lately, as it appears to have been such a mirage compared to the rest of Jimmy's career. But that was before other teams had any film on him, and before they could tailor their defenses to take away his strengths. And my recollection is that he threw a lot of balls that really should have been intercepted that year. Lots of throws into the middle that, due to his quick release and the element of surprise, just literally bounced off defenders' hands or chests. As teams got more accustomed to defending him, those defenders in the middle of the field started to really look for the ball, and he has always accommodated them.

[Pattersonca65]

Awful game to watch offensively. Jimmy had a bad game and is doing his jeckyl & Hyde routine again. But it is what it is. Lance is injured and can't play. Jimmy is still better than trying to play the third string QB

[CrimsonCrew]

Because I'm not a healthy person, I went back and reviewed youtube videos of all of his passes from the 2017 season. The following focuses on particularly questionable decisions or throws. I'm not going to chart all the run-of-the-mill plays, every bad pass, or generally his good throws. This is just to examine his poor decisions.

Week 13 against the Bears:

- On first and goal in the first quarter, he threw a pass that the DB jumped. Would have made for a somewhat tough INT, but very dangerous throw there.

- 3rd and 9 near midfield in the first quarter and he did throw an INT over the middle. Arguably the WR should have brought it in, but it was high and the defender closed as the ball reached the receiver.

- Third quarter on 1st and 10, trailing by five, with pressure in his face, he throws into triple coverage over the middle that should have been picked, but wasn't. Awful decision.

Week 14 against the Texans:

- On 1st and 15 in the first quarter, game tied at zero, he throws a bad pass behind a double-covered Trent Taylor for a pick. It looks like the LB either tipped it or let it go right through his hands before the DB caught it.

- Later, he had two bad deep balls. One was inaccurate enough that it wasn't really in danger of being picked, but on the second one, three Texans had a better shot at it than the receiver.

- Later in the second quarter, trailing 0-3, he gets pressure and throws to no one in the middle of the field. Fortunately there wasn't a defender particularly near it, either.

- 1st and goal from the 7, trailing 13-16 in the late third, he gets pressure and, while fading away, just throws a duck into double coverage in the endzone. Fortunately it wasn't picked.

- In the early 4th, up 23-16, he threw deep down the middle on third and 16, and it really should have been picked. Granted it might have been no worse than a punt there.

- Up 23-16 with four minutes left from the Texans' 29, he threw a pass over the middle that Taylor had to really battle for. The camera work is awful, so it's tough to see where he placed the ball, but it feels like it was a little behind. I only mention this one because the Niners were in position to put the game away as they were already in FG range, and this was riskier than I might have liked there.

- It's worth noting he was under a lot of pressure in this game and delivered a lot of nice balls as he was getting hit or just before.

Week 15 against the Titans

- Up 6-3 in the second quarter, 2nd and 9 near midfield, Garoppolo gets pressure, fades away, and launches a duck toward the sideline where it it picked off. Actually, it looks like this was inexplicably ruled a catch that survived review (I don't have the reviews here), but an incredibly poor decision.

- I was preparing to type that this was actually a really good game for Jimmy, but then I got late into the 4th quarter. 1st and 18 from the Titans' 22, trailing by 19-20, while falling off, he throws the endzone fade to Goodwin, who was tightly covered. Totally should have been intercepted, but the defender couldn't bring it in. Given the situation, with the team all but assured to take the lead in a relatively low-scoring game, this pass was inexcusable.

- He did lead a nice comeback to put the team into FG range and win the game.

Week 16 against the Jags

- 3rd and 4 from Jags' 20 at the end of the first quarter, Niners winning 10-0, he squeezes a ball into Bourne that is simply a miracle it wasn't picked. The OLB jumps it and I honestly don't know how he didn't pick it for a long return.

- Threw a pick in the endzone with under two minutes in the half, but his arm was hit as he threw, so I wouldn't knock him for that one.

Week 17 against the Rams

- 1st and 10 from the Rams' 15, tied 0-0, Garoppolo forces it into a really tight window for an incompletion. There was a window there, but it was really tight, and he didn't thread it. Decision maybe a bit questionable, but DB only just got his hand on it, and that part of the field really only has small windows.

- 1st and 10 from the Niners' 41, leading 10-0 he threw a pretty bad INT on a deeper ball across the middle. DB was in good coverage and cut in front of the receiver for the easy takeaway. Bad decision.

- 1st and 10 from the Niners' 31, 17 seconds left in the quarter and the Niners up 20-3, Niners have three TOs. Garoppolo drops back, gets pressure, and throws an awful ball that is picked off at the Rams' 45 by a DB with no WR within five yards. Awful, awful, awful play that could have let the Rams get right back in the game at the end of the half. They kicked a FG and then got possession to start the second half, so could have easily pulled within one score.

- The Rams did not in fact make it interesting, and they won going away, so no real high-impact throws late in this one.

So look, I get that this is the definition of Monday morning QBing. A lot of those tight-window throws over the middle resulted in big plays for the offense. Garoppolo was generally really accurate, decisive, actually extended plays and made nice throws on the move, which are elements of his game that have suffered lately. He had a 7-5 TD-INT ratio that year, and it really could have been a lot worse. It's pretty clear that what changed in terms of the head-scratching plays wasn't so much Jimmy, but the way teams defended him.