49ers should still start Jimmy Garoppolo despite shaky outing vs Packers

Jimmy Garoppolo wasn’t at his finest against the Green Bay Packers. But the San Francisco 49ers quarterback did almost enough to power the team to a win.

For the second week in a row, San Francisco 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo did enough to get his team a lead. But this time the 49ers just couldn’t beat the Green Bay Packers, falling in a nail-biting 30-28 loss.

Rookie quarterback Trey Lance made his Levi’s Stadium debut and scored a touchdown with no time left in the first half. But that’s all he contributed on the stat sheet.

All around it wasn’t a solid team performance. The defense wasn’t as stout as they needed to be: only getting one sack on Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers. And, the offense was fairly inconsistent: Garoppolo finished 25/40 for 257 yards, one interception, one fumble, and two touchdowns including this one to receiver Brandon Aiyuk:

Jimmy Garoppolo: Should the 49ers start him or sit him?

So this begs the question, what do the 49ers do with Jimmy Garoppolo?

Well, you can’t blame him for allowing Packers receiver Devante Adams to make a catch in the middle of the field with under 30 seconds left. And you can’t blame him for Green Bay kicker Mason Crosby hit a clutch game-winning field goal.

But there were plenty of opportunities to place the blame on Garoppolo. He luckily avoided an “intentional grounding” penalty before the Lance touchdown. He could’ve easily been picked off more than once. He’s still throwing it above the receivers’ heads, so they have to go up for the ball. He’s still hanging on to the ball too long, causing sacks or trying to flee the pocket. And, he threw the ball back which caused a turnover.

Despite all these flaws, he’s still the best option for the 49ers to start next week against Seattle. If you look around the league, many first-round quarterbacks are struggling. The 49ers don’t want to rush Lance. Nor should they.

Jimmy Garoppolo can and will win games.

However, with a divisional game coming up, you can’t help but wonder how short his leash will be?

Seattle’s defense isn’t playing up to their usual standards. In back-to-back losses, they’ve given up a total of 63 points, while their pass defense has given up 603 passing yards in those losses.

It’s certainly a chance for Garoppolo to prove he can still play at an elite level. But he must work on hitting his receivers in stride, making it easy on them to catch and run, and extending the play when the pocket breaks down.

49ers fans are impatiently waiting for the Lance era to begin. But they’ll need to hold off at least one more week as Garoppolo tries to right the ship against Seattle.