3 questions Jimmy Garoppolo left us in 49ers loss to Colts

No. 3: Has Jimmy Garoppolo gotten worse in 49ers offense?

Well, the quick-take reaction would be to say yes. But like anything, there are far more layers to digest than initially thought.

Even though they still lead to the same conclusion.

In 2018 and 2020, Jimmy Garoppolo could blame whatever setbacks and shortcomings on injuries. That’s fine, even though it isn’t. But 2021 was supposed to be the year, finally, when Garoppolo put those pieces together. After all, San Francisco’s offense was supposed to have all the pieces in place. And with Trey Lance now in the picture, Garoppolo was finally going to be pushed, which is something he hadn’t experienced in years prior.

All of this was intended to culminate in what could have been his most impressive season with the 49ers, which could have been perfect for the franchise if they were ultimately looking to trade him while his stock value was at its highest.

Unfortunately, nothing of the sort has happened.

Through five starts, Garoppolo is completing 64.8 percent of his passes, the lowest mark with the Niners aside from that three-game period in 2018, and has a 2.8 interception percentage, which is a 10th of a point above his career average of 2.7.

Even more troubling, Garoppolo’s postgame comments seemed to indicate he doesn’t have a true grip on what’s going wrong:

"I don’t know. I don’t have one specific thing. I think whatever play is called, we just have to go out there and execute it. It’s just about putting in more time, more effort, staying longer, putting in more hours, things like that. It’s the little things at this point."

That would make sense if it was one bad game or two. But it’s been the case for much of the season and doesn’t have any sign of getting better.

If anything, it’s gotten worse.