As Niners learned, nobody’s irrelevant in the NFL

in ,

The definition of irrelevant is “not connected with or relevant to something.” Unless, of course, it involves the NFL, where everything and everyone is connected. As we learned once more on a Sunday in San Francisco, where a foot was broken but a team’s hopes were not.

We refer to Jimmy Garoppolo, Mr. Hard Luck, and to Brock Purdy, perhaps Mr. Good Luck. And to the screaming unpredictability of sports. Do not try to outguess fate. Or rewrite fables.

Nobody would have believed the Niners’ quarterback progression this season, or the accidents incurred.

But here they are, using a quarterback who in generic terms was little more than third string, but because he was in the right place — or wrong place — at the right time is forever to be labeled Mr. Irrelevant, famous for being infamous. 

Paul Salata, who grew up in L.A., was a receiver for USC and played in the 1945 Rose Bowl. He also was on the Trojan baseball team. Drafted by the 49ers, he played a smattering of NFL games and became enamored by the players, who like himself, were pros but never stars.

“Everyone who is drafted works hard,” Salata once told the New York Times, but some don’t get any recognition. “I wanted to celebrate who gets picked last. The player at the end of the line rarely gets noticed. And their hard work should be noticed.”

Thanks to Salata, who died in October 2021, one day before his 95th birthday, the player at the bottom gets plenty of notice, and so does Salata. He and his friends from Orange County came up with the idea of Mr. Irrelevant and Irrelevant Week, where the man chosen last gets almost the same attention as the man taken first. Almost.

There’s a dinner and TV appearances, a tradition that started when Kelvin Kirk of Dayton was drafted by the Steelers in 1976. Kirk took umbrage, believing he was the punchline of a joke, but later on those designated Mr. Irrelevant have been appreciative. Some end up on rosters. Kicker Ryan Succop (South Carolina, 2009) made it to the Super Bowl with Tampa Bay, winning a ring.

Purdy and the Niners would be thrilled by that possibility, although admittedly there’s a big difference between a player who gets a team into the end zone and someone who gets the ball over the crossbar.

Purdy was projected as not even being drafted, but the Niners made him the 262nd player taken.

In movies, people like Purdy are tossed into a game and toss the winning touchdown pass. But this is real life, and the dreamers are warned not to believe in miracles.

Still, Purdy did throw for a touchdown last weekend. Whatever happens from here, is a tribute of sorts to Paul Salata — and a reminder that nobody who’s good enough to be an NFL draft pick is irrelevant.

Niners: Not much offense, but oh that defense

in ,

That’s true, the offense was held to a single touchdown and two field goals. Which usually isn’t enough to win an NFL game, unless the other team gets fewer points. Like zero.

And so we harken back to that old — very old — reminder from John McKay, who won games at USC and then, after becoming coach of an expansion team, lost them with the Tampa Bay Bucs: You win on defense; if the other team doesn’t score, you’ll never get worse than a 0-0 tie.

But since the 49ers managed to put a few piddling points on the scoreboard at Levi’s Stadium on Sunday, they got a win, not a tie, their fourth win in succession, a 13-0 victory over the New Orleans Saints.

The Niners now are in first place in the NFC West, ahead of the Seahawks, who somehow lost to the former Oakland Raiders, ahead of the former St. Louis Rams and ahead of the onetime St. Louis Cardinals.

Indeed a lot of movement in the NFL, even some on the gridiron. Those Carole King lyrics, “Doesn’t anybody stay in one place anymore,” seem appropriate here.

Also appropriate is the comment by head coach Kyle Shanahan from a few days ago, to the effect that this is 49ers football.

You’ve been advised that San Francisco, with good old Jimmy Garoppolo, doesn’t have the quarterback a team needs to win a Super Bowl, that he manages a game instead of taking control and ramming it down your gullet.

But Jimmy G, who completed 26 of 37 for 222 yards, including a five-yarder to Jauan Jennings for the game’s only touchdown, showed exactly what a QB needs, the ability to get up after being smacked around and then act like the leader he’s proven to be.

“He’s tough,” Shanahan said of Garoppolo.

The Niners know what they have, and no less importantly what they don’t. If Jimmy G doesn’t make you think of Tom Brady, whom Garoppolo was drafted by the Patriots to replace, well, he’s the major factor in the offensive system designed and administered by Shanahan.

Week after week, the TV commentators use at least part of a phrase to describe the Niners’ attack, “so many weapons.” The arsenal was interesting with Garoppolo, Jennings, Deebo Samuel, Elijah Mitchell, Brandon Aiyuk, George Kittle and others; it became fascinating with the acquisition of Christian McCaffrey.

Alternatives? If that running back doesn’t have the ball, this receiver does. There are 60 minutes to an NFL game. On Sunday, the Niners had the ball only 10 seconds short of 35 minutes.

Inherent in sporting success is the belief you have the capability and determination to succeed. Winners act like winners, talk like winners.

“We’re on our way, for sure,” said Nick Bosa. He’s the Pro Bowl pass rusher who late in the game had yet one more sack. “I think we have the guys to do it, definitely. And everybody who is still here (from when the Niners went to the Super Bowl three seasons ago) could be better.”

The 49ers haven’t allowed a point in 94 minutes, 19 seconds of game action, since the second quarter of the win last Monday night in Mexico City.

That will get the job done anytime, anywhere.

Of the Niners’ win and Draymond’s punch

in ,

So the 49ers played the way we’ve been waiting for them to play — meaning both efficiently and effectively — and people even were talking about them being the best team in the NFL.

When they weren’t talking about Draymond Green, whose defense is almost as famous as the Niners’ and whose rash behavior is just as infamous.

The debate this summer was whether the Warriors, with Green, Steph Curry and Klay Thompson, had by winning a fourth championship surpassed the 49ers as the most popular sporting franchise in the Bay Area.

It’s accepted that popularity is based on success. Over the last few years, no team other than the New England Patriots was as successful as the Warriors. You surmise that will outweigh Draymond’s moment of outrage. But apology or no apology, Green’s punch could have an effect.

For certain, the Niners, founded in San Francisco in 1946, always will have their followers to cheer in good times and grumble (and boo) in bad. And ironically and appropriately, these 49ers are developing into a very good team.

With their 37-15 romp Sunday over the Carolina Panthers, a team susceptible to being romped, they made a statement. Or perhaps updated a previous one.

The problem for the Niners was that they seemed to be losing players on injuries on virtually every down. Safety Jimmy Ward was gone early, pass rusher Nick Bosa later.

Niners coach Kyle Shanahan appeared as philosophical about the injuries (“They’re part of the game”) as he was ecstatic about the win, arguably tops in the league, but at last the offense in general and quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo played well.

“We made plays,” said Shanahan. “Jimmy G looked like Jimmy Garoppolo. He kept drives alive.” Along with his running backs and receivers.

Shanahan kept using the word awesome. He’s allowed, if anybody is.

After the game, with Washington as the next opponent, the Niners flew not home but to the Greenbrier, a historic resort in West Virginia, where they stayed on a previous trip to the East Coast. ”We’ll be together,” said Shanahan. ”We like that.”

On Sunday, they very much liked Garoppolo (18 of 30, 253 yards, two touchdowns, no interceptions) and liked his progress.

As is well known around Ninerville, Jimmy G, without a team of his own, was unable to take part in a preseason summer camp. Then, having joined the Niners as a backup, Garoppolo was forced to become a starter when Trey Lance broke his ankle.

“I thought he looked real good,” said Shanahan in what was an unneeded affirmation.

When you’re on a two-game win streak and moving into a 3-2 record, that’s not exactly an overstatement.

Every NFL team, particularly the Dallas Cowboys and Pittsburgh Steelers, has fans on the road; the Niners had more than a few in Charlotte. “We knew they were there. It was great.”

The Cowboys also were winners, defeating the Super Bowl champion Los Angeles Rams, who the Niners defeated a week ago. Also in last year’s playoffs, the Niners kept Dallas from a shot at the championship.   

A few days ago, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, never one to remain silent, said he would love for a rematch. Most people would, including Draymond Green.

Niners battling Cowboys for time on ESPN

in ,

Those 49ers must be doing something right. They received almost as much time on ESPN’s SportsCenter on Tuesday morning as the Dallas Cowboys. who were doing something or other. What the Niners had done was defeat the Rams, merely the defending Super Bowl champions.

Not that the Rams seem to be any good, if one studies the Los Angeles Times, as it were the Rams hometown paper. “Four games into the season,” wrote Dylan Hernandez, the Times columnist, “and (Rams coach) Sean McVay looks as if he still hasn’t recovered from his boozy Super Bowl parade. The offensive revolutionary suddenly is a .500 coach, his once feared attack painfully predictable.”

Also predictable is the Niners’ implacable defense, but you knew that. Holding any NFL team to nothing except three field goals, as the 49ers did in their win over the Rams, is verification.

You also knew that fans and critics can change opinions about as quickly as Deebo Samuel can change direction.

A week ago, there were questions about the Niners in general and the returnee, Jimmy Garoppolo specifically. He stepped out of the end zone for a safety and the team looked as if it had fallen into a rut. Oh, woe is us.

Now? Now Jimmy G — the way he’ll be described when results are satisfying — says post-game, “I feel much better than last week.”

As he should, having been in tight control of an offense built around Mr. Samuel (remember when he wanted to be traded?), in truth an offense built around the defense. Once more a reference to the observation by the late John McKay, who won a national championship at USC and would insist, “You win on defense. If the other team doesn’t score, you never get worse than a 0-0 tie.”

The Niners got much better. And even though they have only a 2-2 record, the Niners are once more, as they were at the season’s start, being touted as the favorite in the NFC, despite the presence of the 4-0 Philadelphia Eagles.

“We’ve got to play better,” was McVay’s farewell analysis of his Rams. That’s hardly an original thought among losing coaches. In fact, it was expressed only last week by the Niners’ Kyle Shanahan after the rare miserable  showing against the Broncos. But Monday night, Shanahan seemed absolutely delighted in the way the Niners played.

“I was real happy,” said Shanahan. “It was a cool way to win. We knew it would be a battle to keep them out of the end zone.”

Cool was a repetitive word. Shanahan used it to describe the way his team won and the way his linebacker Bobby Wagner flattened a protester who jumped onto the field with a smoke bomb in the first half. Garoppolo didn’t say much, but his smile said a great deal, and Jimmy G, contemplating the pressure and success, was testament enough.

“You know how the (stuff) is,” Garoppolo reminded, only he didn’t say stuff. “It’s a roller coaster. You’ve got to love it.”

No less, you’ve got to love Samuel, who dashed 44 yards on a pass play for the Niners’ first touchdown and at kickoff earned high praise from TV analysts including Hall of Fame quarterback Troy Aikman, who called Samuel his favorite player.

“I don't even look in their eyes anymore,“ Samuel told NBC Bay Area about the guys chasing him. "I just go out there and line up and can just see them like, 'Oh here comes Deebo.'"

And there go the Niners.

Niners: Too many mistakes, too little rhythm

in ,

That result, the Niners losing to Denver 11-10 on Sunday night.

It was an NFL game, right? Or numbers left off the odds sheet from Bally’s? Wonder what the odds were that Jimmy Garoppolo would take a step out of the end zone for a safety?

Comments from the post-game locker room seemed divided between mistakes (too many) and rhythm (too little).

It’s an accepted thought that the most important phase of the game is defense; the old line if the opponent doesn’t score, you’ll never get less than a 0-0 tie. And San Francisco has an excellent defense. 

Which is fortunate because it doesn’t have much of an offense. At least it didn’t on Sunday night.

Then again, their best offensive lineman, Trent Williams, was injured (and will be gone a month).

And they forced to use a new quarterback who is an old quarterback, Mr. Garoppolo.

Jimmy G. very much was back, having healed from his injuries (and maybe the blow to his ego) to replace the injured Trey Lance.

You understand the reason the 49ers took Trey Lance third overall in the 2021 draft (after trading draft picks to get the opportunity). The team wanted a different (and different type) of QB from Garoppolo — if not at the moment, then in coming seasons. But fate is strange.

The Niners signed Garoppolo, thumbing a nose at those who said that two starting quarterbacks is the same as having none. Not if one is required to step in, or in Jimmy G’s situation, step back in.

Of course, on Sunday night it appeared he had stepped into trouble.

“We never got into rhythm,” said Niners coach Kyle Shanahan.

What? With the veterans such as Deebo Samuel? How can the team that a year ago was so close to the Super Bowl — with Garoppolo as quarterback — have those penalties and two turnovers?

One of those knowledgeable sorts on NBC Sports Bay Area, Donte Whitner or Rod Brooks,  said because Garoppolo didn’t take part in summer camp, he and the team still are unfamiliar with each other. The implication was everything will be there in time.

“It was a tough situation,” was the explanation that didn’t really explain anything.

Garoppolo was as bewildered as anyone why the Niners got yards (virtually the same as Denver) but could barely get points, except for one, virtually the same as Denver.

“We were sloppy,” said Garoppolo. “We were not in rhythm. Our defense kept us in the game.”

When someone on air reminded us that Garoppolo had only been back as a starter for a game and a half. Garoppolo said, “No excuses.”

Not a lot of protection either. Garoppolo was sacked four times.

The quarterback said he was “trying to buy time,” when under pressure he stepped out of the end zone for the safety.

Niners again face Rodgers, the man they should have drafted

in ,

For the 49ers, it wasn’t so much what might have been or could have been but what should have been. Yes, before yet another playoff game between the 49ers and Green Bay Packers, it’s time to recall the unfortunate tale of Aaron Rodgers.

Unfortunate if one is emotionally involved with the 49ers.      

It was a given that in the 2005 NFL draft San Francisco, with the No. 1 pick, would select Rodgers. He played at Cal across the bay; grew up a Niners fan; and in 2004 against USC completed the first 23 passes he threw, tying a record.

Such a certainty. Such a surprise. The Niners had a new coach, Mike Nolan, whose father had preceded him in that position years before.

Mike was going to show us what he knew — and so the Niners picked Alex Smith because, said Nolan, he was more athletic, virtually able to do everything except leap tall buildings in a single bound.

Nolan was relieved of his job before the new man in charge, Jim Harbaugh, replaced Alex with Colin Kaepernick, a quarterback famous — or infamous — for actions other than his play (although he did get the Niners to the Super Bowl).  

Because teams predetermine who they’ll draft, often becoming trapped by the choices, nobody else moved in on Rodgers, who dropped from a presumptive No. 1 down to an actual No. 24, by the Packers.

More than a decade later, in 2016, Mike Nolan, between jobs as an assistant coach, confessed to “NFL HQ” he was less than enthralled with Rodgers’ arrogance and his throwing motion.

With Rodgers having won three MVP awards, favored to win another and at least partially responsible for a Super Bowl triumph, one guesses those failings now appear less important — although Rodgers‘ current lack of honesty about Covid-19 vaccination remains inexcusable.

“Basically, we thought in the long term that Alex Smith would be the better choice than Aaron," Nolan said. "It was one of those, maybe, paralysis by analysis. We had so much time to think about it.

“We put a lot of stock in changing Aaron's throwing style. We also got caught up a little bit in that Alex was so mobile. That was a good thing. But in the end, we felt Alex would be the better long-time guy. Obviously, we were wrong in that thought process."

So again Rodgers, stubborn, cocky, successful, is the quarterback the Niners must confront instead of embrace, while perhaps for the last time they rely on Jimmy Garoppolo.

The draft is a process built on hope as much as it is on preparation. Tom Brady, labeled the GOAT, or “Greatest of All Time,” was not chosen until the sixth round of the 2000 draft, 199th overall.    

Garoppolo, the man the Patriots intended to take over for Brady, was picked in the second round of the 2014 draft, after Blake Bortles and Johnny Manziel. But ahead of Derek Carr. The 49ers traded for Jimmy G in 2017. Now they’re waiting for the ascension of Trey Lance.  

The inevitability of Lance becoming the Niners’ starter was presumed the moment they grabbed him with the third pick in last year’s draft. Yet who knows?

In Green Bay, according to Eric Edom of Yahoo! Sports, some suggest that Saturday night’s game at Lambeau Field, similar to the Niners and Garoppolo, will be Rodgers’ last for the Pack.

Over the last couple of off-seasons, Rodgers has avoided giving a direct answer to whether he wanted to remain with the team, figuratively dancing around when asked — like a quarterback evading the rush. And Green Bay did select a quarterback, Jordan Love, in the first round of the 2020 draft, which made Rodgers quite unhappy.

“There are a lot of guys’ futures that are uncertain, myself included,” Rodgers said a season ago after the Packers lost to Tampa Bay in the NFC championship game.

Wouldn’t it be ironic, then, if what turns out to be Aaron Rodgers’ last game for the Packers is against the team that should have drafted him when it had the chance, the 49ers?

Niners win in a perfectly imperfect game

in ,

It was a perfectly imperfect game, full of too many penalties (by the Dallas Cowboys, mostly), more than enough tension (thanks to some 49er misplays) and an ending that belonged in a comedy show as much as it did an NFL highlight film.

Yet, when it came to the bizarre conclusion — Dak Prescott trying to run off a play without the officials having touched the ball — there were the 49ers in the next round of the playoffs and Dallas owner Jerry Jones sitting stunned in his box at the multi-billion-dollar stadium in Texas he helped finance.

On Wild Card Sunday the Niners, with a (phew) very wild 23-17 victory, advanced another step in the postseason, to the divisional round, where they’ll face the Green Bay Packers.

The Pack defeated the Niners in the regular season. And with quarterback Aaron Rodgers, football’s anti-vax answer to the disgraced and deported tennis star Novak Djokovic, Green Bay will be picked to win this one.

But who cares? In effect the Niners, who two weekends ago seemed to be done for the season (they’re now 11-7), are playing with house money — mainly because they play with a great defense.

The talk coming into this one was all about Dallas (of course, the former “America’s Team.”) No matter, the Niners clearly were better. The Boys helped SF by getting called for 14 penalties; who do they think are, the Raiders?

But the Niners, who were off to a first-quarter 10-0 lead, made mistakes of their own, including a Jimmy Garoppolo interception to keep us from turning off the CBS telecast, which featured the duo of Jim Nantz, fighting any urge to favor the Cowboys, and ex-Cowboy QB Tony Romo, who was less neutral.

Which made him about the same as others in the CBS crew. When sideline reporter Tracy Wolfson said Dallas was looking to pick off Jimmy G, and did the next play, there were congratulations and joy throughout.

“It was an emotional, up-and-down game,” said Garoppolo, who would rue the interception. “We were in a dogfight. The fans were nuts.”

AT&T Stadium in Arlington, also known as Jerry’s World, holds more than 94,000 of those fans, and with Jones, GM as well as owner, and highly paid quarterback Dak Prescott running things in their own ways, the Cowboys were talking the Super Bowl.

Oops. That’s also a word applicable for the ultimate play on Sunday. Moments before, with the 49ers trying to run out the clock, Deebo Samuel was stopped on third down literally inches short of the first down.

Then came a Niner false start and a punt to the Cowboys’ 20. As the clock kept ticking, the Cowboys, with Prescott running and throwing, moved the ball to the Niners’ eight. Tick tock.

Prescott bumped into ref Ramon George trying to place the ball without an official touching it — or did George, in the line of duty, bump into Prescott? Whatever, the ticking had stopped. Game over.

Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy — anybody here remember he was the Niners’ offensive coordinator for Mike Nolan in 2005? — said Prescott was slowed by the collision.

McCarthy wanted a review. “They were going to put time on the clock,” said McCarthy, “and the next thing I know they’re running off the field.” They had to catch a flight to SFO.

Niners coach Kyle Shanahan said later when asked about his team, “There are lots of ways to win a game, but we shouldn’t have given the ball back to them.”

They did, but most importantly they held on to the victory.

Just a game for 49ers — but what a game

in ,

It wasn’t for a championship, wasn’t for the record book. It was just a game. But what a game.

A game that offered what sports is supposed to offer, unpredictability, surprise and best of all for the 49ers — and their faithful — a victory.

A game that once and for all disproved any thought that Jimmy Garoppolo isn’t a worthy heir to Joe Montana and Steve Young, no matter what the future holds.

A game that with the Niners, once down 17-0, then in the closing minute of regulation down by a touchdown, managed to win, beating the Rams, 27-24, in overtime on a Robbie Gould field goal.

And oh yes, a game that got the Niners into the coming weekend’s wild card playoffs against the Cowboys, deep in the heartlessness of Texas.

You want drama? You want joy? You want irony? It was 40 years ago the Niners came back against Dallas in the playoffs and won historically when Montana and the late Dwight Clark connected on “The Catch.”

Which would elevate the Niners to their first Super Bowl.

That one was held at aging Candlestick Park, now gone. This one was held at the newest of stadia, $5 billion SoFi in Inglewood. That’s home to the Rams, though you might not have believed it from the crowd reaction.

It’s always been that way, hasn’t it, Niner fans coming south to make their presence felt?

On a Monday night at Anaheim Stadium in the late 1980s, John Taylor caught touchdown pass after touchdown pass, and from the cheering you’d have sworn you were in the Bay Area.

When the listless 49ers couldn’t move the ball and couldn’t keep the Rams from moving it in the first half Sunday — they were outgained, 149 to 83 — you’d have sworn the Niners’ season was done.

Yeah, wait ’til next year and that Trey Lance kid.

Someday, maybe next season, Lance presumably will be the Niners’ quarterback. Management — and Niner fans — can only hope he will show the courage and poise of Garoppolo.

Jimmy G had torn a ligament in the thumb of his throwing hand eight days earlier. The question was whether he even could throw, much less start. The question was answered positively and effectively.

“You learn how to adapt,” said Garoppolo. There was pain. There  was resilience. There was success.

Garoppolo was 23 for 32 for 316 yards and a touchdown. Most of all, for an offense dedicated to running the ball, there was leadership.

Niners coach Kyle Shanahan appeared to be gloatingly delighted, implying that all those who doubted Jimmy G and doubted Kyle himself had underestimated both.

Especially with Elijah Mitchell (21 carries for 85 yards) and Deebo Samuel (8 for 45 and one TD) running and pounding, and Samuel (4 catches for 95 yards), Brandon Aiyuk (6 for 107) and Jauan Jennings (6 for 94 and 2 TDs) receiving.

Remember that Rams game a few weeks back when the Niners ground out a victory? In the second half Sunday, they ran the ball on 10 straight plays. Maybe the only stat that counts is the final score, but in winning a sixth straight over L.A. the Niners had 449 yards, the Rams 265.

The saying in football is you win on defense. The Niners were a perfect example.

When needed, such as on a third down and short yardage in the first half, San Francisco, trailing 17-0, stopped the Rams and then was able to kick a field goal.

Asked how he felt after game, Garoppolo said, “It was an emotional game, up and down.”

Down and then up might be a more accurate description. And guaranteed at least one more game.

Is Garoppolo just another Steve DeBerg?

in ,

An individual who has followed the 49ers for years has an idea about Jimmy Garoppolo: “He reminds me of Steve DeBerg,” said the individual.

For those unfamiliar with DeBerg, that’s not exactly high praise. Or complete disparagement.

DeBerg had a lengthy career in the NFL, three years of which (1978-80) he spent with the 49ers at the start of the Bill Walsh era, which began in 1979.

The Niners would move the ball, and then in a critical situation DeBerg would be intercepted. He invariably made the big mistake.

As Garoppolo did Thursday night when San Francisco couldn’t hold on to a 10-0 halftime lead and was beaten 20-17 by the Tennessee Titans. 

Jimmy G threw a couple of interceptions, one from Tennessee’s 8-yard line in the first period, and also missed an open man in the end zone in the second half. And while the defense, the Niners’ strength, could be faulted, the quarterback’s failures were inescapable.

“I thought we should have been up more, that was for sure,” was the assessment of head coach Kyle Shanahan. “I thought we could have got three scores with those drives. We didn’t.”

Not with Garoppolo missing receivers or, worst of all, throwing when nobody was open and no worse than a field goal assured — unless the other team gets the ball.

Which it did to halt two of the chances.

So maybe it’s unfair in a team sport in which offense, defense and special teams are involved. But one man has the ball and decides what he’s going to do with it.

“We were rolling early on,” said Garoppolo, “and in the middle just kind of got a little sluggish. It’s tough when you let a win like this slip away.”   

Tougher when literally you throw it away.

Turnovers are killers at every level of football. The Niners had two, the interceptions, the Titans zero.

The Niners are 8-7 this season and still in the wild-card chase. But they are 1-6 when Garoppolo throws at least one interception, as opposed to 7-0 when he doesn’t have one.

Jimmy G was the quarterback for a Niners team in a Super Bowl, something DeBerg was unable to accomplish. Yet the Patriots traded Garoppolo to San Francisco when he seemed to be the heir apparent to Tom Brady.

One wonders if Patriots coach Bill Belichick sensed a deficiency.

The future of Garoppolo’s career with the Niners is a mystery. The Niners traded three first-round selections to Miami for the right to make the pick in April that brought them quarterback Trey Lance.

Shanahan and his staff determined Garoppolo this year would be more efficient than a rookie, no matter how qualified and regarded Lance might be.

That followed the Bill Walsh philosophy. He suffered through the DeBerg seasons while Joe Montana was getting acclimated and confident.

A week ago, Garoppolo was exactly what he needed to be, the Niners winning at Cincinnati. Four days later, he was a quarterback who put his team in distress.

This Sunday, San Francisco has a bye, a time perhaps to reflect and second-guess. The season continues with a home game against the woeful Texans and then one at L.A. against the Rams.  

The presumption is Garoppolo will start at quarterback in both. And that he’ll play well enough to get his team to the postseason.

Then probably, Trey Lance takes over.

But who knows how good Lance might be — the next Tom Brady or the next Jimmy Garoppolo, who was supposed to take over for Brady but never did?

Down the stretch, Garoppolo performed like Montana

in ,

Agreed, he’s not Joe Montana. But the way Jimmy Garoppolo performed down the stretch Sunday, completing passes, leading the Niners from behind in overtime to a victory, was — dare we say — very reminiscent of Joe.

Jimmy G. won a game the San Francisco 49ers very much needed, a game it seemed they had let slip away and then wrenched back from the Cincinnati Bengals on the road.

He wasn’t alone. Joe Montana wasn’t alone. Tom Brady isn’t alone. John Elway wasn’t alone. Football is a team game, and a game of ebbs and flows, when the opportunity must be grabbed or it will lay groaning as a painful memory.

The memory of the Niners’ 26-23 victory on Sunday touches back to the good old days of comebacks and championships, of making the right calls and the right plays.

That in the great scheme of this NFL season the game may turn out to be insignificant doesn’t matter. When the oft-criticized Garoppolo had to get a win, he got it, in conjunction with Deebo Samuel and Nick Bosa and Brandon Aiyuk — and certainly and demonstratively, the amazing George Kittle.

There, late in the afternoon at Cincinnati, were the erratic Niners, failing to take the game when Robbie Gould’s 43-yard field goal try at the end of regulation was wide; quickly behind, 23-20, when the Bengals made their own 3-pointer; pulling it out when, with virtually no time remaining, Aiyuk shoved the ball over the goal line as he flew into space.

It wasn’t beautiful, but it was successful. The saying in golf is applicable, “It ain’t how, it’s how many.” There’s no judging of form, just a display of the final score.

As a relieved Niners coach, Kyle Shanahan, conceded. 

Garoppolo botched things a week ago against Seattle, and there were other games when he couldn’t bring it home (even after the win, San Francisco is just 7-6, although very much a wild card possibility). 

This time with plenty of assistance from the offensive line, the receivers and the game plan, Garoppolo hit one pass after another. Or handed off to Samuel or Jeff Wilson. There was a sense of purpose and feeling of confidence.

“We kept saying that we’ve been in this situation before,” Garoppolo explained about the drive. “No one blinked. Guys knew that we had been here before, and we’ve done this before.”

True, but until you do it correctly, pulling out a game that seemingly was lost, it’s just rehearsal.

“We’ve just got to do this game,” said Garoppolo.

They did in no small part due to Kittle, the tight end who snares passes, batters potential tacklers and just generally makes the 49ers formidable and fearsome.

“That dude is the one Shanahan describe as a violent blocker and violent receiver” Aiyuk said of Kittle. “Not a bad combination. That dude is special.“

Kittle would just as soon hit possible defenders as catch a football, a trend coaches find perfect for a tight end, not that George shies away from getting a ball in his hands.

Against the Bengals, Kittle caught 13 passes for 151 yards, a touchdown and two first downs on third-down situations. “When you have a guy like him, you lean on him,” said Garoppolo.

If you didn’t, you’d better get a new job. Back when the Niners had Jerry Rice, and failed to target him, John Madden would growl, “He’s your best weapon. He needs the ball.”

What the 49ers needed was this victory, achieved in part because Cincy fumbled away two first-quarter punts and in part because Jimmy Garoppolo did what a 49er quarterback is expected to do.

Win the game the way Joe Montana used to do.

Niners go back to who they are

in ,

The man on ESPN sounded as baffled as he was impressed: “They did not look like this last week.” He meant the 49ers, of course,

And to that observation we add, nor any week in the last year.

The Niners had gone 390 days since a win at Levi’s Stadium, their home. Then they played their patsies, the Los Angeles Rams.

We modify the cliché — let’s make it “on any given Monday.” On this Monday, the 49ers gave it to the Rams, winning 31-10, ending a streak of eight straight losses at Levi’s and continuing a streak of wins over the Rams, now six. 

There was a lot in print and on TV the past few days about the Rams, Hollywood’s team if you will, mostly for acquiring that receiver with the flair, flash and catchy name, Odell Beckham Jr., a.k.a. OBJ (yes, too many initials, but that’s our world). Headline stuff. OBJ, we were told, was the final piece in the puzzle, the guy who was going to get the Rams to the coming Super Bowl — which conveniently will be played at the Rams’ $5 billion SoFi Stadium.

OBJ may indeed help get the Rams to the NFL Championship, but he couldn’t do much about getting L.A. out of the pit in which he and the Rams found themselves in against San Francisco.

There are 60 minutes in a game. On Monday night, the Niners had the ball 39 minutes 3 seconds of those 60.

Hang on to the ball, pick off a couple of Rams passes (both by Jimmy Ward, one of which was returned for a touchdown, the infamous pick six) and you can’t lose.

“They went back to who they are,” said Louis Riddick, who analyzes for NBC Sports Bay Area.

Or who they were.

Maybe you missed the grumbling from fans and media because of the attention to OBJ — hard to ignore ESPN — but there was great disenchantment with the 49ers, beginning with head coach Kyle Shanahan.

A team that had been considered a probability for the postseason was 2-4 and at the bottom of NFC West.

And besides that, the Niners looked so awful against Arizona a week ago, one supporter emailed that he switched channels to some music program.

What to do? The old cure.

“We went back to basics,” said quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo. Meaning plays that would succeed. Taking opportunities not chances.

Garoppolo, who gets his share of criticism, was effective, completing his first 12 passes and 15 of 19. When Deebo Samuel wasn’t catching the ball, he was running with it.

The Niners, perhaps as much in frustration as determination, pounded away. Woody Hayes, he of the three yards and a cloud of dust, would have been overjoyed.

It isn’t too much of a reach to say Shanahan was.

The Niners had 156 yards rushing, the Rams 52. Passing? The Rams had 226 to San Francisco’s 179. OBJ had two receptions for 18 yards.

You might say the Niners were fighting to keep their jobs.  What Shanahan would say was, “The whole team has to play that way, offense, defense, special teams.”

The game plan was simple — and brilliant. Keep the ball and keep the opponent off balance.

“The Rams are a real good team,” said Shanahan, “but we were excited to play them.” Given history, it’s easy to understand why.

“I think we took a lot of things personally,” said Shanahan. “We were very aware. We wanted to make the game as physical as possible. But our physical guys also have some skill sets.”

They can maneuver. They can think. They also can grasp the disappointment — disgust, even — engendered by going winless game after game on their home turf.

“There are no secrets to what we did,” said Garoppolo. “We were just locked in.”

After figuratively being locked out for 390 days.

Mystery solved for Niners: it’s Trey Lance; is he the right man?

in ,

All we wanted to know was who the 49ers would select. Todd McShay of ESPN told us it would be Trey Lance, and Mel Kiper of the same network said it would be Mac Jones. Of course we had to stay tuned, as much to find out who was wrong as to learn who would be the Niners QB after Jimmy G — whenever that inevitability takes place.

But darn if that didn’t take in more time than one of those Super Bowl halftime shows.

The NFL knows how to lure us in and hold on, through country singers, the presentation of the colors and, how appropriate, a Draft Kings commercial.

We know now: Trey Lance.

Sorry, Mr. Kiper. The Niners, who traded three first-round picks for the one they used to take Lance, have to hope they’re not sorry.

Lance played only 17 games at North Dakota State, whose football history doesn’t exactly remind anyone of the schools from which the two players, both quarterbacks, picked ahead of Lance, were taken: No. 1 Trevor Lawrence of Clemson, No. 2 Zach Wilson of BYU.

But Phil Simms went to Morehead State in Kentucky and led the New York Giants to Super Bowl wins.

Joe Montana was a third-round pick and Tom Brady a sixth-round pick, although these days, with changes in the game, a need for more mobile quarterbacks who can escape the rush — as Patrick Mahomes does — top prospects don’t slip that far.

The only thing certain is that Garoppolo, who some predicted would either be traded perhaps to the Patriots, from where the Niners got him, or waived, will be starting the 2021 season as San Francisco’s quarterback. Trey Lance might be the quarterback of the future, but with lack of experience, the future isn’t now.

Mac Jones led Alabama to an undefeated season and a national championship. Yet Niners coach Kyle Shanahan, known as a quarterback specialist, and general manager John Lynch obviously believe in Lance’s potential — and that Garoppolo, who led the team to one Super Bowl, will be more than adequate for a year or two.

Toss Justin Fields of Ohio State into the mix of Niner possible draftees, along with Jones and Lance, until a few days ago, at least, and the impression was that Lance was below the other two.

“I’d be surprised if it’s Trey Lance, unless they decide to go with Jimmy G for another year,” was what NFL Network commentator and former 49er head coach Steve Maricucci told the San Jose Mercury News.

“If they are (keeping Garoppolo, as advertised), any of them could fit. If not, and somebody wants him and grabs Jimmy for a second-round pick, Trey Lance has the most work to do to start in the NFL. Not only did he not play last year (other than one game), he played at another level (FCS) and has the most catching up to do. It would benefit him a lot to sit and watch a veteran guy. All of these quarterbacks would benefit from that.”

You need more than a quarterback — the Chiefs lost in the Super Bowl in February because the offensive line was inadequate. Still, most of all you need a quarterback. He wins the games you should have lost. Lynch and Shanahan decided it was time to acquire that quarterback.

Lance is 6-foot-4 and rushed for 1,100 yards in his lone full season as a starter. He’s known for his football intelligence. And didn’t throw an interception in 287 pass attempts.

“He’s played a year of football (and) it is at a smaller school,” Shanahan said. “So it takes work. You’re not going to see it all. It is a hard process, and that there is no guarantee for any of us. So it’s about believing. You see what they asked him to do. And you see it very consistently done at a high level.”

One mystery is solved. We know the Niners’ next QB. Another remains: Is he the right man?

Jets' pick of Darnold should make 49ers wary of a QB

in ,


The safest quarterback prospect in the draft. That was the observation in a New York daily about Sam Darnold, on the day he was taken by the Jets in April 2018. “The Darnold era has begun,” said the story.

That it may end prematurely is a reminder and a warning.

The Jets traded up in that draft to get the No. 3 overall selection, to get the man they wanted — “the arm, the legs and temperament to be a franchise quarterback.”

Three years later, amid much glee and explanation, it is the San Francisco 49ers who have traded up to the No. 3 overall selection to get, well, we learn in April, but presumably a quarterback. Depending on who is available, it might be Zach Wilson of BYU, Justin Fields of Ohio State, Trey Lance of North Dakota State or Mac Jones of Alabama.

The chosen individual — dare we designate him as a “franchise quarterback”? — will be expected to lead the Niners to the Super Bowl. Which, two seasons past, Jimmy Garoppolo did. That was so long ago, and in the NFL, there’s nothing constant except change.

Other than Tom Brady, of course, and he was a sixth-round pick and at age 43 still brilliant. So much for probability.

If nothing else, and when the situation involves the 49ers there’s always something else, the trade for that No. 3 overall selection has put the team back in the Bay Area headlines, in front of the Warriors and, even though the season is about to begin, in front of baseball.

Where, with all the speculation about who will be their pick and probably their star, the Niners will stay for months, if not forever. 

The new guy will be labeled the “next Joe Montana,” naturally because he was not only the franchise QB but through adulation dubbed “St. Joe.”

But what if he doesn’t become a champion, much less another sporting saint? There are no guarantees.

Darnold has been less than hoped for. Talk continues that he might be traded. It’s been awhile since Ryan Leaf was the No. 2 overall pick and maybe the No. 1 overall bust. And only weeks ago, the Rams gave up on Jared Goff, No. 1 overall in 2016, and traded him to the Detroit Lions for Matthew Stafford.

Owners are impatient, not to mention oil-sheik wealthy. This makes general managers impatient. This makes coaches impatient. This makes players uncomfortable. Just don’t look over your shoulder — unless you’re about to be sacked.

The Niners’ GM John Lynch and head coach Kyle Shanahan were looking ahead after looking around. All those other teams, excluding Tampa Bay and Brady, had young first-round picks at QB: Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, Goff.  

Garoppolo is out again? Have to move. Now.

“You hope to be competing, to get into the playoffs every single year, which is the ultimate goal,” said Shanahan, Niners coach for a fifth season.

“The more you look at this league. especially our four years here, it’s hard to succeed when your starting quarterback doesn’t stay healthy,” emphasized Shanahan. “He’s played at a very high level when he’s played.”

When he hasn’t played, the idea to develop a replacement for Jimmy G. became a necessity. And surely that replacement had to be developed from a prospect who will be a high pick in the coming draft.

When you trade away first-round choices, you’re thinking less of what you never had than what you will have, a player on the roster. How can you lose what you never had? 

The Niners, the way the team was built, seemingly believed they lost games they should have won. A quarterback could change that. If he’s not the wrong one.

If Pats get Garoppolo, who plays QB for Niners?

in ,

So the New England Patriots would like to have Jimmy Garoppolo as their quarterback, according to a Boston journalist — as if any journalist knows what he’s writing or talking about — and that leaves us with one question.

Who would play quarterback for the 49ers, the team to which Garoppolo now is under contract?

It certainly won’t be Dak Prescott, who on Tuesday re-signed with the Dallas Cowboys for four years and a mere $160 million.

Or Russell Wilson, desperate to escape Seattle, which apparently no longer trusts in his capability but did not list the Niners among the teams he finds acceptable.

Or Aaron Rodgers, now that management at Green Bay has given him the ringing endorsement he deserves.

These are days of instability and outrageous dreams in the NFL, particularly when it comes to quarterbacks, whom we know — despite homilies to the contrary — are the most important guys in the offensive lineup.

Consider the Patriots with Tom Brady. Six Super Bowl victories. Consider the Patriots without Tom Brady. So awful that, if we believe Greg Bredard of the Boston Sports Journal, the Pats want Jimmy.

Who was drafted by them in 2014 with the idea of him eventually becoming Brady’s replacement; who was traded to the 49ers after a few games in 2017 when it became obvious Brady never would need a replacement as long as he was with New England; who led the Niners to the Super Bowl in 2019; who was out much of 2020 with a leg injury, bringing about demands for a change; who now is a target of the Patriots to fill the role for which he first was labeled, Brady’s successor. 

The only things certain at the moment are the Patriots, ineffective in 2020 with Cam Newton botching up the position, do not have a quarterback; and the 49ers, with two years remaining on Garoppolo’s five-year, $137.5 million contract, do have one.

Is it the one they prefer? Well, the Niners insist Garoppolo is their man. That means he is. Until he isn’t.

“Do I believe 49ers general manager John Lynch when he claims that Garoppolo will be his starter in 2021? Of course not,” NFL insider Michael Lombardi recently wrote in The Athletic.

“They are too active, too aggressive to run it back one more year with someone they don’t have complete trust in.”

The 49ers have called the Panthers about Teddy Bridgewater, according to The Athletic, another sign they’re looking for a new quarterback.

Two of the four teams in the Niners’ division, the NFC West, have either obtained a new quarterback for 2021 (the Rams trading for Matthew Stafford) or will need to obtain one (the Seahawks, mentioned above).

The Rams had Jared Goff, the overall No. 1 pick in the 2016 draft who led them to the Super Bowl in 2018. Such a wonderful future. Or so it seemed. A few bad plays, and, voila, Goff was sent to the Lions for Stafford — who has played in one Super Bowl fewer than Garoppolo. None.

And five fewer than Joe Montana, against whom everyone from now until forever any 49ers quarterback will be rated.

Joe often was hesitant to give opinions when he played, but now, out of the game, his status quite safe, he is more outspoken.

“You know the biggest question on everybody’s mind is Garoppolo, and can they keep him healthy,” Montana told Can Inman, the longtime Niners writer for the San Jose Mercury News.

“Obviously they’re a better team when he’s playing, but who knows what goes in those guys’ minds?”

What goes is to employ a quarterback who wins games, maybe directs his team to the Super Bowl.

As Garoppolo did two years ago. And as the Patriots are well aware.

Niners looking for their identity — and some touchdowns

in ,

By Art Spander
For Maven Sports

This is the season that every team in pro football has, other than the Patriots for that long period. The season that coaches fear and fans dread. The season when you stop asking what’s wrong and instead ask what’s right — if anything.

Read the full story here.

Copyright 2020, The Maven

Niners running toward the Super Bowl

in ,

By Art Spander

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — This was back in the 1980s, when another 49ers team of another era — a very good one at that — hit the road and got hit, 17-3, in a playoff game by the New York Giants.

The Niners were unable to move the ball against the defense and the weather.

That was when the New York coach, Bill Parcells, sneered at the system of Niners coach Bill Walsh, giving it a name, contending in so many words, “Back here when it gets cold and windy, that West Coast offense doesn’t work. You’ve got to be able to run the ball.”

It doesn’t really matter what the conditions are. A team always needs to run the ball. Maybe not as emphatically as the Niners, the 2020 Niners, did Saturday, defeating the Minnesota Vikings, 27-10, in their NFC Divisional playoff win, but run frequently and consistently.

For all the talk about how the NFL has morphed into a passing league, the run remains the essence of football. You take the ball and virtually shove it through the other team. Then do it again. And again, building your momentum and wearing down the opposition.

Never mind balance, this is battering. The Niners ran the ball 47 times. In one third-quarter-sequence, they ran it eight plays in a row and scored.

It was football out of the 50s, the old Woody Hayes game at Ohio State, three yards and a cloud of dust. It was boring. It was beautiful. It was successful.

It also helped keep the ball from the Vikings; the time of possession was a highly disproportionate 38 minutes and 27 seconds for the Niners compared to 21 minutes and 33 seconds for Minnesota.

“I think 47 rushes is pretty good, right?” was Niners tight end George Kittle’s assessment. “I personally feel we don’t run the ball enough every single week.”

They’ll have another chance Sunday in the NFC Championship game against either Seattle or Green Bay, each of which the 14-3 Niners defeated during the regular season.

San Francisco was the No. 1 NFC seed in the postseason, so it didn’t have to be cute — why take chances when you’re favored? — only dominant.

“We’ve been playing good football all year,” said Kittle. “People keep telling us we’re not very good.”

What they can say now is the Niners are one game away from the Super Bowl.

And one reason is the young quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, who obviously passed infrequently (the Niners throwing a mere 19 times, completing 11 for 131 yards).

But on this afternoon when Levi’s Stadium hosted its first postseason game, and when the seats at last were packed with fans, many chanting “Defense, defense,” Garoppolo showed a skill unknown for many quarterbacks.

On one of the 47 runs, a run by Debo Samuel, Garoppolo was a blocker.

“I saw an opportunity,” said Garoppolo. “He was a little off balance. Had to get a pancake.” That’s the term for flattening a potential tackler.

On the other side, Niners cornerback Richard Sherman figuratively flattened all Vikings hopes with an interception, which led to the repetitive runs that resulted in the third-period touchdown.

“It’s that complementary football,” said Garoppolo, linking the defense to the offense and the offense to the defense.

And having the crowd linked to everything. It’s been a while since the Niners created so much excitement in Northern California. Since the last Super Bowl victory, the Warriors became the best team in the NBA and the Giants won three World Series. Now we've got the Niners renaissance.

“I was pumped up with the defense,” said Niners coach Kyle Shanahan, who then spoke of the offense.

“We had a pre-game goal,” said Shanahan. “We thought the team that got over 30 runs would win this game.”

It did, easily.

“We knew coming into the season we had a chance to compete in every game,” said Shanahan. “Now I can’t wait to watch these games Sunday to find out who we’re playing.”

Niners defy third-and-16 percentage — and win

in ,

By Art Spander

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Third and 16. That’s not field position, that’s an impossibility. Especially on your own 19 with just under two minutes left in a tie game.

“They’re less than 10 percent,” Kyle Shanahan, the 49ers coach, said of going for it on third and 16. “I know that. In the league this year, you watch and it’s like one out of 20.

“Usually you just try and survive the down and get half (the yardage) and punt. But we were in a situation that we didn’t have that, and I think we struggled on third downs most of the day.”

This time Shanahan didn’t play the percentages, he played the opposition. He played to get the victory and what might be looming, a top seed in the playoffs.

According to one numbers man, Josh Dubow of the Associated Press, the 49ers had failed the previous 15 times trying to convert on third and 16.

So naturally in this suspenseful and magical season of 2019, they made it, kept the ball on an 18-yard completion to Kendrick Bourne and kept alive a drive that ended with 0:00 on the clock at Levi’s Stadium, Saturday night.

Another one of those waiting-to-exhale results, beating the Los Angeles Rams 34-31 on Robbie Gould’s 33-yard field goal.

Such an emotional and tragic day, the Niners receiving word around 3 a.m. that the younger brother of backup quarterback C.J. Beathard had been fatally stabbed in a bar fight in Nashville. Players were notified before the game. That the Niners quickly fell behind was no surprise.

“How horrible it is,” said Shanahan.

That the Niners, trailing 14-3 in the second quarter, rallied to win and raise their season record to 12-3 wasn’t a surprise either.

The Niners are what teams must be in pro football: resilient. First the awful news about a teammate’s sibling; then the Rams, desperate because a defeat would eliminate them from the playoffs, striking quickly; then Niners quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo getting sacked six times; then the Rams regaining the lead, 28-24, in the third quarter.

But winners have something special. Back in Foxboro, Brady brought the Patriots from behind to take the AFC title for a 11th straight year. Then a few hours later out here on the other coast, Garoppolo, who was the Patriots starter-in-waiting behind Brady — and if the Niners hadn’t traded for him he still would be waiting — brought San Francisco from behind.

Next Sunday the Niners face the Seahawks in Seattle, the winner getting home field advantage and the first-round playoff bye.

Which is a perfect place to mention Richard Sherman, the defensive back who as part of the “Legion of Boom” helped the Seahawks win their only Super Bowl and now would hope to help the Niners win their sixth.

“This is a special team,” Sherman said of the 49ers. “Guys care about each other. Guys care about winning. Guys go out there and execute... It’s not always how you draw it up but if you got guys willing to fight to the last play.”

Four Niners games this season have come down to that last play, and the Niners have won two of them and, of course, lost the other two.

They won this one in part because at halftime San Francisco made changes in its defense. Set up to stop the run, mainly Todd Gurley II, it gave up yards and touchdowns on passes by Jared Goff, the onetime Cal star who was the No. 1 pick three years ago.

Goff got the Rams to the Super Bowl last season. Garoppolo might be able to get the Niners there this year.

“Usually,” said Shanahan about his quarterback, “you’re not feeling great in those (third and very long) situations. He had two this game. Play calling, offense defense, everything was up and down this game. But each individual kept coming back.”