49ers vs. Cardinals: 5 chilling stats that say everything about Week 9 loss
By Peter Panacy
No. 2: Jimmy Garoppolo takes 5 sacks
For the most part, Jimmy Garoppolo played a good enough game to win in Week 9. Let’s not overlook the 28-of-40 for 326 yards, two touchdowns against the late-game interception for a 100.6 passer rating.
And completing over 70 percent of his passes is a good mark, too. Generally speaking, he didn’t cost the Niners the game.
Yet Garoppolo also took five sacks in the game, which is a start contrast from the zero taken a week ago in the win over the Chicago Bears.
This is where Kyle Shanahan’s personnel decisions don’t make a lot of sense.
Fill-in right tackle Tom Compton, who came in after starting tackle Mike McGlinchey exited with a knee injury, allowed two of those sacks, while right guard Daniel Brunskill was also manhandled in the pass-protection department.
Why Shanahan elected to go with Compton over the improving rookie, Jaylon Moore, is questionable. And so is the fact whatever pass-protection sets couldn’t account for Cardinals edge rushers Chandler Jones, who had one, and Markus Golden, who had three, has to be a major red flag.
And those certainly led to many of those San Francisco offensive drives coming up short.