49ers grades, position analysis from Week 11 win vs. Cardinals

It was stressful and at often times bordering on insane, but the San Francisco 49ers swept the Arizona Cardinals 36-26 at home to move to 9-1 and ensure the team has a winning record this season.

Let there be no doubt. The San Francisco 49ers are, and always have been quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo‘s football team.

After a career-best day two weeks ago, and a heroic struggle where everything went wrong and was still only a shanked field goal away from beat the Seattle Seahawks, Garoppolo had another career day to cap off both the win and a winning record for the 49ers this season, beating the visiting Arizona Cardinals 36-26 in Week 11 to improve to 9-1.

While there were mistakes, the fact of the matter is, with no running game to speak of, Garoppolo put the team on his back and did what he does by just winning football games.

The defense, while starting slow, managed to respond to the Arizona Cardinals game plan to hurry the tempo up, and held them for most of the second half. Some very key takeaways in the final few minutes of the game showed the defense is still clutch despite all the injuries.

There is only one narrative, however, and that was Garoppolo carrying the team on his shoulders when it mattered most.

The narrative that Garoppolo isn’t the 49ers franchise quarterback has been ludicrous. He’s carried the team when he had to, and would be undefeated this season if not for factors outside of his control.

He’s made mistakes, but he’s had as many starts as second-year New York Jets quarterback Sam Darnold. If he can get a pass for mistakes he’s made, why can’t Garoppolo.

The narrative is over with now. He will make more mistakes in the future, but he is the future.

Time to look at the grades for the 49ers in this game.