It is true that Jimmy Garoppolo could retire from the NFL today and walk away with a Super Bowl championship ring, although that would be a pretty simplistic view of things, given the catastrophic way in which he concluded his 2021 season with the San Francisco 49ers, by falling 20-17 in the NFC Championship game against the Los Angeles Rams this Sunday.
Garoppolo took the ball at his 22-yard line, on third and 13 to go with 1:20 remaining in the game.. Being pressed, he ran to the side and, after being surrounded, began to struggle to stay on his feet, and before deciding to be sacked and given one last chance, albeit a desperate one, on fourth down, he made a giant mistake.
In his undisguised desperation to gain yards or make the first-and-10 play, Garoppolo, almost captured, unorthodoxly threw the ball to one of his running backs, but since the pass was going high, the probable receiver deflected it, taking away his strength and allowing that Travin Howard intercepted him and sealed the Rams’ ticket to Super Bowl LVI, which will be played in his own home on February 13.
For many, this was Garoppolo’s last move as a starter, despite the onerous and current contract, giving way to the young passer Trey Lance as the one who will usher in a new era at the position in San Francisco. ‘Jimmy G’ completed 16 of 30 passes for 232 yards with two touchdowns and an expensive interception.
When Garoppolo connected with George Kittle to put the 49ers ahead 17-7, with just under two minutes remaining in the third quarter, the cards seemed to be laid and practically the narrative on social media was beginning to shift to San Francisco’s second Super Bowl appearance in four years.
And the record was totally in San Francisco’s favor, even without going to the numbers. It is enough to remember the most recent match between the two, precisely in the very SoFi Stadium, corresponding to the Week 18, in which the 49ers scored 21 points in the second half and went on to win 27-24 to get into the postseason.
Based on the numbers, the Rams were 0-14 under current head coach Sean McVay (including playoffs) when they entered the 4th quarter trailing by 10 or more pointsincluding a record of 0-4 this same season.
Having said this, the chances of San Francisco advancing were ample and, although they cannot be measured, the sensations indicated that there was going to be no way that a reaction of the Rams, ‘faithful’ to their tendency of not knowing how to come back in the final quarter.
The sixth-best defense in the league had already stretched the league to the max, drying out Los Angeles’ offense for three quarters., and there came a time when the 49ers couldn’t just rely on her anymore because the unthinkable happened: the Rams responded with 10 unanswered points to tie the game and, worst of all for San Francisco, they trailed 20-17 with 1:49 left in the game.
Garoppolo could no longer be a ‘passenger’, as on other occasions, he could no longer support himself in his portentous ground attack because the situation was pressing, and much.
With little time on the clock and a great urgency to achieve an offensive series that would lead to a touchdown and thus in San Francisco’s win, or at least get the kicker closer for a game-tying field goal that sent him into overtime. Inescapably, the game was in his hands.
It’s true that with 9:47 left in the fourth quarter, defensive back Jaquiski Tart unbelievably dropped a pass Desperate Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford trying to go deep with his receivers. It was a called interception, but the ball went out of his hands.
The quarterback, who was Tom Brady’s backup in the 2014 season —the year the New England Patriots beat the Seattle Seahawks— he earned his ring, something like earning a degree by going to class as a listener. That is why he left to embark on a career as a ‘soloist’.
After two seasons in which he had his sparks with the 49ers, the team he came to after three years in New England where he never had and never will have a chance while Brady was around, San Francisco saw in him something that gave them hope and they decided to take a chance.
On February 8, 2019, the 49ers extended his contract for five seasons and 137.5 million dollars. to become the team’s starting quarterback, and ‘Jimmy G’, as he is nicknamed, It didn’t take him long to justify the onerous figure offered by the Californian team’s management.
Garoppolo led the 49ers to their first Super Bowl since 2013., an event that filled its enthusiastic fans with hope, who since 1994 have not had titles to celebrate.
But nevertheless, the quarterback fell short in the attempt to green San Francisco’s laurels both that time and this time, which leaves the coin in the air about what the scenario will be for 2022 for both the quarterback and the organization, which he will have to lick his wounds again in the offseason.
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Jimmy Garoppolo and the disastrous play of a quarterback of 137.5 million dollars