Niner Noise
FanSided

Jaguars vs. 49ers: Full Week 16 preview for San Francisco

By Logan Stanley

SANTA CLARA, CA - DECEMBER 17: Marquise Goodwin #11 of the San Francisco 49ers tries to fight off the tackle of LeShaun Sims #36 of the Tennessee Titans late in the fourth quarter of their NFL football game at Levi's Stadium on December 17, 2017 in Santa Clara, California. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)
SANTA CLARA, CA - DECEMBER 17: Marquise Goodwin #11 of the San Francisco 49ers tries to fight off the tackle of LeShaun Sims #36 of the Tennessee Titans late in the fourth quarter of their NFL football game at Levi's Stadium on December 17, 2017 in Santa Clara, California. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
2 of 6
Next
SANTA CLARA, CA – DECEMBER 17: Jimmy Garoppolo #10 of the San Francisco 49ers throws a pass against the Tennessee Titans during their NFL football game at Levi’s Stadium on December 17, 2017 in Santa Clara, California. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)
SANTA CLARA, CA – DECEMBER 17: Jimmy Garoppolo #10 of the San Francisco 49ers throws a pass against the Tennessee Titans during their NFL football game at Levi’s Stadium on December 17, 2017 in Santa Clara, California. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images) /

Week 16 by the numbers

One of the players who has seen the largest increase in production since Garoppolo took over as the starter is wide receiver Marquise Goodwin. The former Olympian long-jumper is establishing himself as a legitimate NFL pass catcher.

With Garoppolo, the fifth-year wide receiver is averaging eight receptions for 106.3 yards per game. In Week 15 against the Titans, Goodwin set a career-high with 10 receptions.

Goodwin is now only 103 yards shy of his first 1,000-yard season, which would be quite the feat considering the carousel at the quarterback position in 2017.

Looking at Garoppolo, there are particularly facets of the game in which he is succeeding at. The deep passing game is mostly nonexistent as of right now, and that is perfectly okay.

Garoppolo’s ability to get the chains moving has boded quite well for the 49ers, who only have one three-and-out since Week 13. Yes, only one. This has led to the cutdown of empty drives for San Francisco, boosting the overall efficiency of the offense.

It is not just the offense doing well. On the other side of the ball, Robert Saleh has his unit playing much improved ball.

Last season, the rush defense for the 49ers was abysmal. Teams ran with complete ease all season while running backs did as they pleased. That has not been the case this season.