5 reasons why 49ers could win Super Bowl 57 next season
By Peter Panacy
Reason No. 4: 49ers need Trey Lance to play just slightly better than Jimmy Garoppolo
The Niners made the aggressive 2021 NFL Draft move to grab Trey Lance so he could elevate their offense to levels where Jimmy Garoppolo could never take it.
Garoppolo wasn’t particularly great during the playoffs this year, and fourth-quarter collapses in both Super Bowl LIV two years ago and in the most recent NFC Championship game are evidence enough why it’s so vital to have a dynamic quarterback under center in these crucial games.
Nevertheless, Garoppolo was good enough to help propel San Francisco to two conference championship games during the two full seasons in which he was completely healthy. And while many will argue Garoppolo didn’t necessarily carry the team on his shoulders, either in 2019 or in 2021, that statement does reinforce the point that Lance doesn’t have to be wholly perfect.
The 49ers offense should again be a run-first system, relying heavily on players like Elijah Mitchell and Deebo Samuel to command the ground game, while the defense isn’t expected to take any major steps in the wrong direction in 2022 either.
Lance, for all his talents and lofty expectations, doesn’t have to be in the ilk of other young star quarterbacks, such as the Cincinnati Bengals’ Joe Burrow or the Los Angeles Chargers’ Justin Herbert, right away.
No, Lance just needs to be only moderately more effective than Garoppolo in those key situations. Anything above that would merely be a bonus.