Jimmy Garoppolo dropped back to pass on a crucial third down in the final minutes with the game on the line and the 49ers’ chances of rousing victory or crushing defeat depending heavily on his capable right arm.
He looked deep.
Garoppolo’s receiving target had slipped past the defense, gotten behind the secondary, had nothing in front of him but clear end zone. Garoppolo spotted his target and let sail, the hopes of Niners Nation clinging to every dizzy spiral as his pass descended toward its destination.
It fell incomplete.
Jimmy Garoppolo in February during Super Bowl LIV?
No, this time, it was Garoppolo in September during San Francisco’s season opener against the Arizona Cardinals.
Jimmy G missed again.
“That’s one I wish I had back,” Garoppolo said. “When you get opportunities like that, you’ve got to take advantage of it.”
Don’t the 49ers and their fans know all about that.
Garoppolo had missed on an opportunity similar to that seven long months ago on the game’s biggest stage at Miami Gardens, an opportunity that could have brought San Francisco a Lombardi Trophy. Instead, the 49ers were stopped on the ensuing fourth down and went on to lose Super Bowl LIV to the Kansas City Chiefs.
The stakes were lower, but the circumstances much the same, Sept. 13, at Levi’s Stadium as the 49ers turned to Garoppolo as a game in which San Francisco seemingly was in command earlier with a 10-point lead was now slipping away.
この記事は Niner Report の October 2020 版に掲載されています。
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この記事は Niner Report の October 2020 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
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In the weeks that follow after you read this — and perhaps sometime even sooner than that — Kyle Shanahan and the rest of the 49ers organization will make a titanic decision that will have present, future and perhaps even everlasting implications for the franchise. It will chart the course for the team’s pivotal 2021 season while determining whether San Francisco really does have the juice to return to powerhouse status and again be considered a legitimate contender to get back to the Super Bowl.
TOP 10 Linebacker seasons
Fred Warner vaulted to stardom with a spectacular 2020 season — and the 49ers rewarded him this summer with a $95.225 million deal that makes him the highest-paid inside linebacker in NFL history. By today’s standards, Warner’s performance last year was worth the money as he posted an Approximate Value of 19 — matching the highest score ever recorded by a San Francisco defender according to a Pro Football Reference formula that puts a single number on each player-season across all positions since 1960. Patrick Willis and NaVorro Bowman (twice) also had seasons with an AV of 19 as they dominate this list of the greatest individual seasons by a linebacker in 49ers history.
