49ers film room: Breaking down Jimmy Garoppolo touchdown pass in Week 12

In this installment of 49ers film room, we break down San Francisco quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo and his first touchdown pass in a Niners uniform from Week 12 against the Seattle Seahawks.

Newly minted San Francisco 49ers starting quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo did, on just three plays, what former starting QB C.J. Beathard failed to do for nearly four quarters in Week 12.

Deliver a touchdown pass against the Seattle Seahawks.

Garoppolo, who came in for Beathard after his knee and hip injuries at the 1:07 mark of the fourth quarter, successfully moved the ball forward on three-straight plays ending in a 10-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Louis Murphy as time expired.

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The Niners still lost the game 24-13, but this moment had to seem something like a small victory.

Sure, it was a garbage-time play, and the Seahawks had long since subbed out the majority of their first-team players. Still, the play itself demonstrated a lot to like about San Francisco’s newest quarterback.

In this article, we’ll take a look at the film behind the play and illustrate some of those positives from Garoppolo’s TD pass.

Picking Apart the Pass from Jimmy Garoppolo

Without any timeouts and just only a handful of seconds on the clock, Garoppolo moved the Niners up to the line of scrimmage using no huddle.

San Francisco comes out in 11 personnel (three wide receivers, one tight end and one tailback) in this formation below:

Garoppolo’s eventual target will be Murphy (yellow arrow), who runs a cross route. Meanwhile, wide receiver Trent Taylor, operating out of the slot, will attempt a pick play where the two lines nearly converge.

The Seahawks aren’t in man coverage, though, and the two-high safety set with three corners — also in a hard zone — keep their faces towards the Niners offensive front. It’s a pretty common red-zone defense, but Garoppolo still manages to find his intended target only after navigating away from pressure.

At the point below, left tackle Joe Staley (yellow star) has done a good job keeping Seattle’s EDGE from getting to the pocket. He’s essentially taken out of the play, but right-side pressure forces Garoppolo to escape to the open void:

Garoppolo could try to hit fellow wideout Aldrick Robinson (red arrow, left), but this would require throwing across the quarterback’s body. And only a split second later, Seattle has him covered.

With enough space between him and the three converging Seahawks pass-rushers, Garoppolo is finally able to turn his shoulders, seeing Murphy open within a seam in the zone:

Note how Robinson (red arrow) has been covered.

At the point of the throw, though, the Seattle defender on Robinson breaks off to try and deflect the pass now intended for Murphy. But Garoppolo, putting it just above the heads of two leaping Seahawks, places the pass in a spot where only Murphy can get to it.

Check out Niner Noise’s Rich Madrid’s real-time shot below to see how:

And for a more detailed view, from NFL.com:

A Tale of Two 49ers Quarterbacks

There are two major points of note to be taken away from this play.

First, we can reasonably conclude Garoppolo’s pocket presence is vastly superior to that of his predecessor, Beathard.

Beathard’s pocket awareness isn’t particularly great, and it wasn’t during his collegiate days at Iowa either. Sure, the 49ers offensive line has been problematic this year. But many of Beathard’s sacks and quarterback hits taken have been the result of him holding onto the ball too long or not effectively evading pressure.

The above clip illustrates how Garoppolo sensed the blindside edge rush was already past the pocket. He knew he had an opening there, and he used it to great effect.

Second, Garoppolo delivered an accurate pass while still under pressure. The perfect ball placement is an indication of this.

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In contrast, Beathard isn’t accurate at all when facing pressure. According to Pro Football Focus, his completion percentage when facing pressure is 39.2 — third worst among all qualifiers.

While this is just one example from Garoppolo, it’s pretty safe to assume he is capable of handling the duties of effectively finding targets under center.

Next: Why Kyle Shanahan has to start Jimmy Garoppolo for rest of 2017

And that should be a valuable thing for San Francisco in coming seasons.