Post#378 » by CrimsonCrew » Thu Sep 29, 2022 5:59 pm
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.