7 KEY QUESTIONS THAT WILL DETERMINE THE OUTCOME OF THE 2020-21 SEASON PART 7

BY ADAM GREENE

Of all the Twitter-related conversations surrounding the NFL Network’s Top 100 Players for 2020, one addition to the list went by relatively unnoticed, the placement of San Francisco 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo.

Ultimately it’s a frivolous list, voting on only by the players, and for entertainment purposes only. The idea that Lamar Jackson is the No. 1 player in the league and Patrick Mahomes is No. 4 is ridiculous on its face, as every team in the league would trade any player on their roster (including Aaron Donald and Jackson) for Mahomes if the offer was put on the table.

An NFL Top 100 list voted on by the league’s coaches would be much more interesting to me, and more indicative of reality. And why Garoppolo, who came in at No. 43 on the player’s Top 100 list, would likely not even sniff the coach’s Top 100. His own coach certainly would not put him there.

And therein lies a major dilemma as the San Francisco 49ers embark on their NFC Championship defense.

While the 49ers ran through their opposition in the NFC playoffs, winning both games by double digits, one thing was clear in both victories; Garoppolo wasn’t really part of the gameplan. Against the Minnesota Vikings, Jimmy G went 11 of 19 for 131 yards, one touchdown and one pick. Against the Green Bay Packers, he was six of eight for 77 yards, no touchdowns and no picks. Those are numbers unheard of at the NFL level, akin to a veer option team in NCAA Division II.

That lack of faith in Garoppolo showed up in the Super Bowl as San Francisco led, on the strength of their defense and running game, 20-10 deep into the fourth quarter. A real quarterback could have put the game away easily there and his coach trust him to do so. Head coach Kyle Shanahan obviously didn’t have faith that Garoppolo could do it. Jimmy Go threw for 219 yards in the game, with a touchdown and two picks.

Garoppolo’s fourth quarter performance in Super Bowl LIV was historically horrid. He went 3 of 10, took a fourth down sack at midfield with his team down by four and tossed a garbage interception with a minute left. San Francisco’s offense gained, in total in the fourth quarter, 31 yards.

But it’s the play before the Frank Clark sack that exemplifies everything Shanahan sees in his quarterback. The Niners are down by four. There’s 1:39 left in the game and San Francisco is at midfield. Shanahan dials up the perfect play. Emmanuel Sanders is open on a deep route. All Garoppolo has to do is make a garden variety NFL throw. He has plenty of time and it doesn’t even have to be that accurate. Just close. Sanders has all three Chiefs defenders beat and by the time the ball is heading his way, he has more than two yards of separation from the closest guy.

Garoppolo overthrows him by seven yards.

If that ball is anywhere close to Sanders, he walks into the end zone and  the 49ers take the lead. Does it change the outcome of the Super Bowl? Probably not. The Chiefs would have the ball with 1:30 left and Mahomes would just need a field goal to tie the game. Two plays after Garoppolo is sacked, Kansas City scored on a 38-yard touchdown run from Damien Williams.

The Chiefs were probably going to win anyway. But a 27-24 final looks a lot better for Jimmy G than the result that we got.

So….

7. Can Kyle Shanahan trust Jimmy Garoppolo to run his offense at the required level?

We’ll see. Because Shanahan didn’t in the playoff run or Super Bowl. I’ll let the NFL Network’s Bucky Brooks spell it out.

“…Coaches tell you how they think by the way they call the games and the way they play,” Brooks told 95.7 The Game.. “There’s not a coincidence why the Niners played the way that they played in the playoffs. All the run game, the heavy reliance on the run game, not going for it, heavy two-minute drill in the Super Bowl. If Pat Mahomes was the quarterback of the San Francisco 49ers, do you think Kyle Shanahan would settle? So that’s what I’m saying. So just use your eyes and connect the dots. It’s a trust factor that a coach has with a quarterback. If he truly believes in the quarterback, he gives him the ball and says, ‘Hey, go win.’ Because he didn’t play like that in the playoffs, he is letting the football world know we’re going to play around our quarterback because I don’t fully trust him.”

Trust must be earned and on the NFL’s biggest stage, Garoppolo obviously fell short in his coach’s eyes. And if you need any other proof, look at how the team considered going after Tom Brady as a free agent in the offseason. It’s a real problem.

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