Jimmy Garoppolo Proved He Can Carry the Load When Necessary

Quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo picked a part the defense of the Arizona Cardinals on Thursday Night Football. His performance proves that he can carry the load when necessary.

One of the reasons that the San Francisco 49ers were given the “pretenders” narrative was because Jimmy Garoppolo was viewed as unproven. The 49ers’ offense had been getting “carried” by the running game this season to go along with the historic run that the defense has been. With such elite complimentary pieces, the criticism for Garoppolo was that he couldn’t be relied upon if the 49ers have to air it out when those two units are failing.

Well, just like the other many poor criticisms of the 49ers this one was quickly debunked. After his four touchdown performance and coming in the clutch on multiple conversion plays against the Cardinals, critics of Garoppolo are now eating a hefty serving of crow. His four touchdown passes and passer rating of 136.9 are both career highs for him.

In the 49ers 28-25 win over the Arizona Cardinals, Jimmy Garoppolo proved he can carry the load when necessary. The Cardinals anticipated the run game well against the 49ers, so the pressure was on Garoppolo to shoulder the burden of the offense. Considering how stellar he played, you could not tell if there was any pressure. The calm, cool and collected composure of Garoppolo throughout the game was that of a champion. 

The criticism towards him was over the top to begin with. Anyone who has watched the 49ers play this season knows that Garoppolo has been a big contributor for the success of the offense. He is a major reason why they are so efficient on converting on third downs and it showed in their matchup with Cardinals yet again. Three of Garoppolo's four touchdown passes came on third down, while the other one came on fourth.

No Staley
No McGlinchey
No Juszczyk
Lost Kittle

Jimmy Garoppolo delivers. 8-0. pic.twitter.com/BbGrqcT2Kq

— PFF SF 49ers (@PFF_49ers) November 1, 2019

Not to mention the final third down conversion play that put the game on ice. With all the pressure on him, Garoppolo answered the call to execute the conversion to tight end Ross Dwelley. With the pocket collapsing, Garoppolo had the right instincts to step up and out of the pinched line. As he continuing forward he keeps his eyes upfield long enough until he finds Dwelley wide open. It was simply an elite, clutch play that any team would love to see from their starting quarterback.

I'm pretty sure that a game managing quarterback doesn't do that. A game managing quarterback would have failed in that high stakes moment. Luckily, the 49ers do not have someone under center like that, despite what the critics will say. Sure, this was against a shaky defense, but to be able to perform at such a high-level on a short week on the road is no easy feat. 

Jimmy Garoppolo stepped up when he needed to. He isn't going to be the quarterback that will have a crazy stat-line every game, but the 49ers do not need him to be. He has proven to us that when necessary he can carry the load. This was a great first test for him as the 49ers will assuredly see a couple of more down to the wire games. Watching Garoppolo perform against the Cardinals we were reassured that there is definitely a heavy concentration of talent instilled in Garoppolo. 

The only problem was that he just hasn't had the right situation to show it. With the Cardinals focused on taking the 49ers' run game out of the picture, they left themselves exposed to getting picked a part by Garoppolo. He made them pay for only worrying about their running backs and not him. 

George Kittle on Jimmy Garoppolo: "Man, he’s pretty good. I don’t know why people don’t think he is. He makes some pretty gutsy throws out there, doesn’t he? Goodness gracious. (In addition to) the strong chin line, he’s incredible." #49ers

— Chris Biderman (@ChrisBiderman) November 1, 2019

What we saw from Garoppolo on Thursday night was reassuring that he is the right guy to lead this team into the playoffs. His demeanor is strong and backs it up with a high-level of play. It is amazing to see how well this team is meshing and feeding off of each other. That energy and emotion that they are feeling must be maintained leading up to their week 10 matchup on Monday night with the Seattle Seahawks. 

A huge game that will draw plenty of eye balls to television screens. The Seahawks will be no walk in the park, but one things is for sure. It is that the 49ers can rely on Jimmy Garoppolo to carry the load when neccessary.