Jimmy Garoppolo’s play isn’t only brutal part of 49ers loss to Broncos

Jimmy Garoppolo and the 49ers offense not only fell flat in the Week 3 loss to the Broncos, their share of miscues ultimately cost them the embarrassing loss.

Whatever feel-good emotions San Francisco 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo had after stepping in for an injured Trey Lance during the Niners’ Week 2 win over the Seattle Seahawks are gone now.

Big time, especially after San Francisco lost to quarterback Russell Wilson, embattled first-year head coach Nathaniel Hackett and the Denver Broncos by a score of 11-10 under the national spotlight of Sunday Night Football in Week 3.

Wilson is now 17-4 against the 49ers in regular-season contests.

Garoppolo, making his first start of the year, helped engineer a strong drive on the Niners’ second possession of the game. But that was about it. His line — 18-of-29 passing for 211 yards, one touchdown versus one interception, four sacks and an 81.2 passer rating — only tells a part of the story.

Jimmy Garoppolo misses the mark with 49ers wide receivers

On three specific occurrences, Garoppolo could have hit wide receiver Deebo Samuel for massive gains.

Twice in the first half, Garoppolo missed out on chances for a touchdown by hitting Samuel, one of the would-be plays going to fellow wideout Brandon Aiyuk despite Samuel being uncovered and wide open on the other side of the field.

Later, despite a 32-yard gain Samuel was able to haul in, the receiver still had to slow up for Garoppolo’s weak-armed pass, slowing him of his route which otherwise would have at least gone for a massive gain if not a touchdown outright.

Then, late in the fourth quarter, Garoppolo failed to lead Samuel on a crucial third-down play with San Francisco finally trailing.

Unfortunately, misses like those aren’t exactly new with regard to Garoppolo’s strengths. Not known for having a strong arm, frequently missing behind his receivers and being just the slightest bit off target are all typical.

Same with that ill-advised clutch-moment interception tossed with the 49ers desperately trying to retake the lead:

And a credit to 49ers Webzone’s Zain Naqvi for serving as the ominous predictor just minutes before the interception:

Jimmy Garoppolo got little help from Kyle Shanahan, 49ers offensive line

Garoppolo shouldn’t get too many excuses from Week 3. Simply put, he was awful. And knowing full well head coach Kyle Shanahan was going to try establishing the run early, the Broncos committed with five defensive linemen in the box to limit the gains.

Aside from running back Jeff Wilson Jr.’s 37-yard long of a run early in the first half, the Niners’ rushing attack was mostly stagnant, and he averaged only 3.5 yards per carry outside of that particular touch.

Read more: 49ers had these 3 concerns about Broncos in Week 3

An extra D-lineman in the box is usually gold for most quarterbacks, who are expected to take advantage of one less cover player.

Except Garoppolo didn’t. And Shanahan didn’t exactly do too many favors either.

Some of that had to do with the fact Denver’s defense was giving San Francisco’s offensive line fits for much of the game. The pass-rushing prowess of Broncos EDGEs Bradley Chubb and Randy Gregory made easy work of right tackle Mike McGlinchey and fill-in left tackle Jaylon Moore, whose emergency add to the lineup in the wake of All-Pro Trent Williams’ injury-related exit led to an immediate sack on Garoppolo.

On top of that, Shanahan’s decision to not roll protection against an unblocked defender up against the goal line, which led to Garoppolo stepping out of bounds for a safety, looms large, too:

As does Shanahan’s decision to decline a holding penalty earlier in the game that led to Denver’s lone field goal.

For a 49ers offense struggling to put up points, those small decisions came back to haunt Garoppolo, Shanahan and a sub-.500 Niners squad that lost to a bad Broncos team in a big way.