San Francisco 49ers: Top 5 storylines to watch over second half of 2019
By Peter Panacy
No. 2: How Quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo Performs Under Center
The 49ers have to be feeling pretty good about how their own quarterback, Jimmy Garoppolo, performed in Week 9 against the Cardinals.
On a night when the running game and defense weren’t exactly on point, Garoppolo’s career-best four touchdowns ensured the Niners stayed undefeated.
A key reason why Garoppolo seems to be stepping out of the shadows of the “game manager” moniker as of late is due to Emmanuel Sanders, who managed 117 receiving yards and a touchdown at Garoppolo’s services in Arizona.
Over the two games Garoppolo has had Sanders as a weapon, the quarterback has tossed passer ratings of 111.2 and 136.9. Coincidence? Probably not.
Sanders has made a major difference. And getting some much-needed reinforcements back in coming weeks should make a difference, too.
All that said, however, Garoppolo is likely going to find himself in some key quarterback duels against some of the aforementioned signal-callers the Niners will face in the second half. Garoppolo doesn’t have to be perfect, of course, and there could easily be games where he’s not the best quarterback on the field.
He just needs to be good enough, especially if the 49ers’ other weapons are doing their job.