Jimmy Garoppolo gets blamed for 'great acting' on penalty by Broncos

Remember back when 49ers fans would hold their breath each time Jimmy Garoppolo would take off scrambling?

Alright, so he's no longer the quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers. But it's still interesting enough to check up on now-Las Vegas Raiders signal-caller Jimmy Garoppolo from time to time.

Heck, the last time we looked, he was playing the role of Maverick in an Air Force version of Top Gun.

Seriously. No joke.

At any rate, Garoppolo and the Raiders took on their own AFC West rivals over the weekend, the Denver Broncos, and the silver and black's new quarterback logged his first victory for Vegas 17-16 in Denver.

Yet the game didn't go down completely without controversy, though. Especially according to Broncos safety Justin Simmons.

Justin Simmons accuses Jimmy Garoppolo of 'great acting' on a hit that induced a penalty

In the first quarter with no score, Garoppolo took off scrambling (remember those days, Niners fans?) on a 3rd-and-7 play.

Nearing the first-down marker, Broncos defensive end Frank Clark managed to drag the quarterback down before Simmons attempted to make a tackle.

You can watch the clip of the play right here, and it does appear that Clark, not Garoppolo, takes the brunt of Simmons' hit. Yet Garoppolo appeared to roll on the ground in pain and was suspected of possibly having a concussion.

Related story: ESPN predicts Jimmy Garoppolo lasts only 1 year with Raiders

Oh, and Simmons was flagged for unnecessary roughness on the play, and Vegas would convert the third-down try and would also score on that drive, thanks to a Jimmy G touchdown pass to wide receiver Jakobi Meyers.

“I guess great acting on Jimmy's end," Simmons later told the media. "But if I get a fine . . . I think anyone who watches that clip can tell there was no force with the helmet. I hit his shoulder pad with my elbow and I think the rest of what I was aiming for, I ended up hitting either his back or [Broncos linebacker Frank Clark].

It does look as if Garoppolo embellished the play a little bit. But it worked, right?

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