Jimmy Garoppolo: What 49ers QB did right, wrong vs. Cardinals in Week 9

Jimmy Garoppolo wasn’t the reason the 49ers lost to the Cardinals in Week 9, but he could have easily done more to help his team win.

Quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo should be awfully low on the list of problems the San Francisco 49ers are experiencing right now, highlighted by their disjointed and deflating 31-17 home loss to the shorthanded Arizona Cardinals in Week 9.

Garoppolo backed up arguably his best game of the season in Week 8 by beating his hometown Chicago Bears with another impressive performance against Arizona.

The problem, though, was the Niners netted a mere 17 points anyway, heavily influenced by the offense turning the ball over three times, twice via fumbles by tight end George Kittle and wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk, and the third coming off a relatively meaningless late fourth-quarter interception tossed by Jimmy G himself.

That pick didn’t determine the outcome of the game, though. If anything, it only reinforced San Francisco’s league-worst turnover differential of minus-12, again, another high point on that list of 49ers problems after nine weeks.

Overall, Garoppolo went 28-of-40 for 326 yards, two passing touchdowns against the interception for a passer rating of 100.6.

Most teams would take that kind of effort. And in Garoppolo’s case, he certainly extended his claim on the starting job over rookie quarterback Trey Lance for at least another week.

Still, Garoppolo couldn’t carry the Niners over their own issues, which is essentially a big reason why Lance is waiting in the folds anyway.

Let’s break down what Garoppolo did well and also where he wasn’t so impressive on Sunday.