Garoppolo's SuperDome Signature Should Finally End Criticism

Jimmy Garoppolo has constantly been dragged through the mud as a weak point of the 49ers. The constant shifting of the goalposts has been the story of his season with his critics. However, his elite performance in the SuperDome should silence the crowd.

You won't hear Kyle Shanahan preaching the significance of the San Francisco 49ers' 48-46 victory over the New Orleans Saints in a remarkable shootout that will likely go down as the game of the 2019 regular season.

Asked in his post-game press conference what the win meant for the team, Shanahan replied: "Not much. It means we're 11-2, so we'll see what else happens. Everybody likes to talk about that [playoff seeding] each week, but it'd be more fun to talk about if everyone else had bad records, but a lot of teams have good records, so it's just one week at a time.

"If you start feeling good about yourself, it's going to be over for you fast, if you get real down or count yourself out, you're not giving yourself a chance because it's going to come down to the last week with the amount of teams in the NFC."

Shanahan's emotionless response was an accurate one. The Niners' undulating thrill ride of a win at the SuperDome does not change their equation. They still need to ensure they finish ahead of the Seattle Seahawks to claim the NFC West title and likely the top seed in the conference. To do that, San Francisco will probably need to win out and avenge their overtime loss to the Seahawks with a Week 17 triumph in Seattle.

However, for the team and the quarterback, this was the signature win those who have doubted the Niners and Jimmy Garoppolo throughout a dominant season felt they needed.

The 49ers had come up short in a similar scenario in Baltimore last week, albeit in a markedly different game. Their failure to convert a fourth down proving pivotal as the Ravens kicked a game-winning field goal on the subsequent drive.

This time, San Francisco ensured they would not be left wondering what might have been. Having come back from a 13-point deficit only to surrender a nine-point lead, the Niners had 53 seconds and a timeout to drive down the field for a game-winning field goal attempt.

Should the 49ers go on to realize the Super Bowl potential present on this team, the drive that followed will go down in legend. After gaining eight yards on first down and then throwing two incomplete passes, Garoppolo hit George Kittle on a choice route, and the All-Pro tight end rumbled down the left sideline, taking three Saints defenders with him for 39 yards, with 15 extra tacked on for a facemask on Marcus Williams.

It set Robbie Gould up for a 30-yard field goal that ended an instant classic in San Francisco's favor. For Garoppolo, it was the sixth game-winning drive of his career, but unquestionably his most important.

Little credence was given to this season's previous game-winning efforts against the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Arizona Cardinals despite Garoppolo playing excellently in each of those contests.

Richard Sherman previously accused critics of moving the goalposts for Garoppolo. After finishing a magnificent performance in which he threw for 349 yards and four touchdowns – with one interception that clanked off the hands of Emmanuel Sanders – by coming through in the clutch in a raucous SuperDome, Garoppolo's reputation should be considerably enhanced.

"This is a big game and he played big-time," Sherman said afterward. "He played like the best quarterback in football today, he beat a legend. That was a shootout and he got the last shot.

"He hasn't cared about the naysayers and what the outside world has thought this entire time, but I think it's a wake-up call for them as well, of the quarterback he can be and the quarterback he is during clutch moments in the crucial moments of the game. I think there's been a lot of question marks and I think he answered a lot of questions with his performance and what he's done."

In Week 13, the 49ers proved they can go toe to toe with the Ravens on the road but were unable to get the job done. They made no such mistakes in New Orleans as Garoppolo and the 49ers out-dueled Drew Brees and the Saints in a game where defensive help was at a minimum. San Francisco has proven it is a team that can win on any field and in a variety of different ways. Following one of the most memorable wins in recent franchise history, maybe the goalposts will finally stop being moved for Garoppolo and the Niners.