Jimmy Garoppolo: 49ers quarterback’s best games to binge watch

No. 1: Jimmy G, 49ers Win a Crazy Thriller in NOLA

You knew this had to be the No. 1 49ers game from last season to binge watch, right? Heck, forget 2019 games. The Week 14 road win over the New Orleans Saints should be considered an all-time Niners classic.

Like San Francisco’s Week 11 bout versus the Cardinals, things didn’t start out well against quarterback Drew Brees and the Saints, who got out to a 20-7 lead by the beginning of the second quarter, thanks to some blown coverages by San Francisco’s defense and some key playmaking efforts from Brees.

So it would fall on Jimmy Garoppolo to duel it out with Brees; never an easy task at Mercedes-Benz Superdome, yet that’s precisely what happened.

Garoppolo’s 75-yard pass to Emmanuel Sanders for a touchdown sparked a spirited second-quarter 49ers comeback, and San Francisco would hold a 28-27 lead at halftime.

Of course, though, that lead wouldn’t stay.

While the Niners managed to create a two-score lead in the fourth quarter, the Saints engineered their own impressive comeback, as the 49ers defense looked both gassed and unable to match up with Brees, who’d go on to throw for nearly 350 yards and five touchdowns.

Trailing by a point with one minute remaining in regulation, Garoppolo again put the team on his back, although he’d need some help from George Kittle, whose fourth-down 39-yard catch-and-run grab (that’s an understatement) with three Saints defenders dragging him down, plus the 15-yard facemask penalty on New Orleans safety Marcus Williams, ultimately got San Francisco into game-winning field-goal range.

Garoppolo did more than just hold his own against Brees, having gone 26-of-35 for 349 yards, four touchdowns against an interception and a passer rating of 131.7 passer rating.

More importantly, Jimmy G put the Niners into a position to win a crucial game, which would have massive implications for last year’s playoff seeding.