4 observations from Jimmy Garoppolo in 49ers win vs. Bengals
By Peter Panacy
No. 3: Jimmy Garoppolo still doesn’t have a strong arm
San Francisco’s offense isn’t built for deep plays, instead relying more on a stout running game with an emphasis on creating yards after the catch.
To this effect, Jimmy Garoppolo can be a good quarterback, provided he’s able to hit his receivers in stride. This isn’t necessarily his best trait, though, and it’s especially apparent on throws down the field.
We haven’t seen too many deep throws by Garoppolo this season, and there was arguably only one deep shot on a second-quarter 3rd-and-15 pass attempt for wide receiver Travis Benjamin, who scantly made a dent on the snap-count list but was at least the intended target for Garoppolo.
Except Garoppolo underthrew Benjamin on the play you can watch here, allowing for multiple Bengals defensive backs to converge and break up the play.
1. Travis Benjamin *should've* caught that ball
— Akash Anavarathan (@akashanav) December 12, 2021
2. Travis Benjamin had to come back to it because the ball was under-thrown and hung in the air forever, allowing the DB to come and back a play
Should Benjamin have fought for the ball more and caught it? Yes. But if Garoppolo leads Benjamin in stride, it’s not only a third-down conversion but also a likely touchdown for the 49ers.
Cincinnati’s muffed-punt issues in the first half helped negate Garoppolo’s mistake, but the fact he can’t throw deep with any sort of regularity is still easily noticeable.