5 reasons 49ers ultimately managed to beat Packers in NFL playoffs

Reason No. 1: Jimmy Garoppolo comes up clutch

Jimmy Garoppolo constantly finds himself on the bitter end of criticism. While the San Francisco 49ers were struggling during their divisional round showdown against the Green Bay Packers last night, fans of the franchise were writing Garoppolo’s epitaph.

Although the weather conditions were brutal all game long and receivers dropped a ton of well-thrown balls, no one wanted to hear it. Once a team is horrific on offense, the starting QB is going to shoulder most of the blame.

In the end, of course, Garoppolo managed to put the 49ers in position to kick the game-winning field goal and dusted himself off time and time again while facing a relentless pass rush. For the game, he completed 11 of his 19 passes for 131 yards and was sacked four times.

While it wasn’t pretty, Garoppolo has to be given credit for staying cool in the pocket, despite those four sacks. With the overall weather reaching below freezing, it was unknown territory for their starting QB. In fact, the coldest game that Garoppolo participated in took place in college. The weather for that game was in the low 30s.

Garoppolo’s game wasn’t pretty and if they lost, he would’ve been ripped and ran out of town. But, with the 49ers picking up the victory and with Garoppolo setting up the final kick, including connecting with wide receiver Deebo Samuel on a crucial second down for 14 yards, we have to give him a ton of credit for getting the job done.