Jimmy Garoppolo's Worst Plays of Week 11

After reviewing the coaches' film, it's clear Garoppolo missed lots of opportunities for big plays and touchdowns.

Jimmy Garoppolo played well against the Jaguars. His two touchdown passes in particular were beautiful, perfect throws. 

But after reviewing the coaches' film, it's clear Garoppolo missed at least six opportunities for big plays and touchdowns. And these missed opportunities didn't hurt the 49ers against the Jaguars, who essentially beat themselves, but could hurt the 49ers in the future against better teams if Garoppolo doesn't improve.

Here were his big misses:

1. 11:37 First Quarter, 2nd and 9 at SF 36.

Kyle Shanahan calls a deep play-action pass for Brandon Aiyuk, who isn't open -- a safety is waiting for him -- and Garoppolo correctly checks the ball down to his running back, Jeff Wilson Jr., who is wide open with grass in front of him. A perfect throw would allow Wilson Jr. to turn upfield and gain 15 to 20 yards. But Garoppolo throws the ball behind Wilson Jr., who has to dive to catch the ball for a gain of just eight. Garoppolo's poor throw essentially tackles his receiver.

2. 2:48 First Quarter, 2nd and 1 at JAX 2.

Shanahan calls a play-action pass with Deebo Samuel in the backfield, and practically the entire Jaguars defense follows him, leaving Wilson Jr. wide open in the end zone. Garoppolo simply needs to float the ball to him -- he could shoot it like a basketball and get it there. But Garoppolo throws the ball on a line and misses a wide open touchdown pass. Hard to fathom.

3. 8:48 Second Quarter, 2nd and 9 at JAX 13.

Garoppolo throws the ball to tight end Charlie Woerner, who's double covered in the end zone, instead of to Brandon Aiyuk, who's open in the end zone. Bad read. Fortunately for Garoppolo, the Jaguars bail him out and commit a pass inteference penalty against Woerner.

4. 8:36 Second Quarter, 2nd and Goal at JAX 6.

Shanahan calls a play-action pass and two receivers are open -- Kyle Juszczyk in the end zone and Deebo Samuel right in front of the end zone. Garoppolo chooses to throw to Juszczyk, and throws a short pass a couple feet over his head. Juszczyk couldn't even touch it.

5. 12:08 Third Quarter, 1st and 10 at JAX 48.

Shanahan calls a play-action pass with Deebo Samuel in the backfield, and the Jaguars linebackers follow him, creating a void over the middle. Garoppolo quickly throws the ball into this void, and George Kittle catches the pass for a gain of 13. Nice. Unfortunately for Garoppolo, he didn't see Trey Sermon running wide open up the left sideline for a potential touchdown.

6. 9:31 Third Quarter, 2nd and Goal at JAX 5.

Shanahan calls another play-action pass, and this time when Garoppolo turns around, he instantly throws to Jauan Jennings, who gets tackled at the 1-yard line. Garoppolo never saw Deebo Samuel, who was wide open in the end zone right in front of him. Garoppolo made up his mind before the play where he would throw.

Watch the full breakdown of these plays below:


Published
Grant Cohn
GRANT COHN

Grant Cohn has covered the San Francisco 49ers daily since 2011. He spent the first nine years of his career with the Santa Rosa Press Democrat where he wrote the Inside the 49ers blog and covered famous coaches and athletes such as Jim Harbaugh, Colin Kaepernick and Patrick Willis. In 2012, Inside the 49ers won Sports Blog of the Year from the Peninsula Press Club. In 2020, Cohn joined FanNation and began writing All49ers. In addition, he created a YouTube channel which has become the go-to place on YouTube to consume 49ers content. Cohn's channel typically generates roughly 3.5 million viewers per month, while the 49ers' official YouTube channel generates roughly 1.5 million viewers per month. Cohn live streams almost every day and posts videos hourly during the football season. Cohn is committed to asking the questions that 49ers fans want answered, and providing the most honest and interactive coverage in the country. His loyalty is to the reader and the viewer, not the team or any player or coach. Cohn is a new-age multimedia journalist with an old-school mentality, because his father is Lowell Cohn, the legendary sports columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle from 1979 to 1993. The two have a live podcast every Tuesday. Grant Cohn grew up in Oakland and studied English Literature at UCLA from 2006 to 2010. He currently lives in Oakland with his wife.