49ers Film Review: Jimmy Garoppolo can’t pick up his teammates

Everyone makes mistakes. How one responds is the difference between a good and bad result.

Each of the 49ers losses this season have followed a similar pattern. Mistakes followed up with more mistakes. This was never more evident than during their 28-14 loss on Sunday in Atlanta.

Here are a few examples I found will doing my weekly review of the coach’s film.

Missed block

Facing second and three on the second possession of the game, Kyle Shanahan dials up a counter play to the left side. This play is very similar to the one on which Jeff Wilson Jr. gained 41 yards the week prior in Carolina.

This time the play doesn’t work. Deebo Samuel is responsible for blocking Falcons safety Isaiah Oliver. However, the wide receiver misses his block and Oliver stuffs Wilson after a gain of only two.

Instead of a first down, the 49ers are now faced with a third and short. Kyle Shanahan calls for a run up the middle from Wilson. Wilson fumbles the ball on the way to the ground leading to a scoop and score for Atlanta.

A mistake changes the situation and leads to another mistake.

Drop number one

On the second play after halftime, Kyle Shanahan dials up a deep shot. Jimmy Garoppolo gets the ball off just before he is hit, but Ray-Ray McCloud loses his balance while running and the ball tips off his fingers.

Now facing third and ten, Kyle Shanahan calls a pass. As Jimmy Garoppolo drops back, he has George Kittle breaking open deep behind the safety and Deebo Samuel open underneath on an in cut for a first down as well.

Garoppolo passes up both, choosing instead to throw to Kyle Juszczyk for a gain of only five resulting in a punt.

A mistake by McCloud on the drop leads to a mistake by Garoppolo on the next play.

Drop number two

On the next offensive possession Jimmy Garoppolo has Charlie Woerner open down the middle of the field. The veteran quarterback puts the ball right on the tight end’s chest, but it’s dropped.

Now facing third and five, Garoppolo is called upon again to pick up his teammate after a mistake.

As Garoppolo drops back to pass, he slides to his left to avoid pressure from the outside but his pass to Wilson Jr. over the middle is off the mark forcing another punt.

A mistake by Woerner leads to a poor throw by Garoppolo on the next play.

Poorly thrown deep ball

The opening of the fourth quarter was a disaster for Jimmy Garoppolo.

On first and ten, Garoppolo has Brandon Aiyuk open deep down the middle of the field. Although the quarterback throws the ball as hard as he can it is off the mark.

Instead of leading Aiyuk to the open area the throw keeps him in the middle of the field. This allows the Falcons defensive back to bat the ball away for an incompletion.

On the next play, Garoppolo is intercepted.

It’s a two-man route calling for Willie Snead to run a deep corner route on the left side while Deebo Samuel runs an over route from right to left.

As Garoppolo hits the top of the drop he looks quickly towards the corner route. Thinking the Falcons cornerback is dropping, he fires the pass to Deebo Samuel.

This is an excellent play by the Falcons. With his eyes on both Snead and Samuel, the cornerback quickly recognizes the play and signals the safety to take the deep route. This allows him to aggressively break on ball, forcing the tip with leads to an interception for the safety.

A mistake by Garoppolo leads to another on the next play.

Holding penalty

There has been quite a bit of discussion about the amount of time the 49ers spent on their second to last drive of the game.

Down fourteen in the fourth quarter and needing to quickly score Kyle Shanahan dials up a shot play.

After a play fake, Jimmy Garoppolo moves to his left and hits Brandon Aiyuk for a gain of 37. However, center Jake Brendel is called for a hold wiping out the play. Instead of having the ball on the Falcons 39, San Francisco finds itself back on its own thirteen.

The 49ers offense gained 100 yards in total on the possession but comes away empty handed.

A fitting finish to a mistake-filled game.

This article has 40 Comments

  1. What did I tell you guys about Jake Brendel? Can somebody explain the decision to go with Jake Brendel, a decision made EARLY in the offseason? Kyle Shanahan is basically on record with the fact that, in his system, the offensive Center is the 2nd most important position along the Offensive Line. So you guys tell me …. why OC was never a priority after Alex Mack made his decision to retire this offseason. It’s not like the 49ers didn’t think it was coming. This wasn’t some kind of roster situation that caught the 49ers off-guard. Did Kyle simply forget about all of the issues his team experienced due to poor play at the OC position as recently as 2020? Jake Brendel is not a starting caliber NFL Center, never has been. That’s why he went UNDRAFTED back in 2016, and that’s why he was only a backup Center during his first 2 years in the league. And then came 2018, Jake Brendel still hadn’t started a game in 2018, when he was farced into starting for the Miami Dolphins, after they experienced a rash of injuries, and Brendel struggled to hold things down, and was promptly deactivated as soon as the Dolphins got healthy. The Ravens signed Brendel as a UFA the following season, but he was released THREE days later, after he struggled to do things as simple as snapping the football. Brendel went unsigned the rest of 2019, until the 49ers signed him in 2020. Brendel opted out due to COVID during the 2020 season, and then he was waived during final roster cuts in 2021.

    And that brings us to 2022. Jake Brendel went UNSIGNED after the 49ers waived him on 08/31/2021, meaning Jake didn’t play football during either the 2020 or 2021 seasons. And yet, Jake Brendel was Kyle Shanahan’s “grand plan” to anchor the middle of his offensive line this season, even though the plan was to start one of the least experienced quarterbacks to ever play QB at the NFL level! That’s right …. Kyle Shanahan’s genius plan to anchor the middle of his already inexperienced interior OL, and tasked with all of the important protection line calls to protect his young franchise QB – Trey Lance, was to start an inexperienced, 30 year-old Offensive Center who had started a grand total of 4 NFL games since 2016, and hadn’t even played football during the previous TWO Seasons, which in NFL terms was essentially 2.5 YEARS!

    Is there really any wonder why Trey Lance didn’t make it through 2 full games before suffering a serious injury? And is there really any wonder why the 49ers still can’t run the football thru the first 6 games? Can anyone really defend Kyle’s roster decision-making after this kind of roster malpractice?

    I am open for anyone to explain to me why this wasn’t a reckless plan of Kyle Shanahan’s from the get go this season, especially considering the fact that Jake Brendel was not only tasked with run-blocking and pass-protection for the young Trey Lance, but he was also responsible for all of the line calls designed to protect his young QB and facilitate a smooth functioning offensive line that was already starting 2 young players on the interior of the OL as first-time starters?

    Trust me when I tell you that Head Coaches have been fired for less! Let’s just put it that way. And if Trey Lance is never quite the same, just ponder the consequences of this kind of IRRESPONSIBLE, and extremely SHORTSIGHTED decision making coming from the very top of the organization!

    1. You are absolutey right. There is no reasonable explanation or defense of this mind boggling decision.

    2. Jaxson16 is right–again! The hapless Shanahan is finished. He has to go. Sean Payton, Ken Dorsey, Jim Harbaugh redux. We need options. Now. Period. Over and out.

    3. Jax is spot-on. I begged the Niners to draft a high-quality young center or to trade for one. Year after year they failed to do so. This position will haunt us all year. Kyle says Alex Mack was their plan for center and then he bamboozled the coaching staff by not agreeing to play again. Terrible player management.

  2. Lots of mistakes and lots of injuries make it difficult to win games. It seams like almost every team is struggling this year. I can’t remember when I’ve seen so many good teams at 3-3. Let’s hope we start getting guys back and quit making so many mistakes.

    1. There is a pretty good chance Bosa, Charvarius Ward, Trent Williams and Hufanga will play versus Chiefs. There is an outside chance Jimmie Ward plays with a cast/club. Armstead and Eli will most likely be back after the Week 9 Bye.

      The sky is not falling.

  3. We’ve been knowing this about Jimmy, when was the last time he carried the offense, NO in 2019? It’s been that long. No surprise, exactly why they need to try & grab McCaffery, surround Jimmy with as much talent as possible because he isn’t built to carry this team when the defense doesn’t show up

  4. Agree with Brendel being the weak link in the chain, but after taking a close look at the tape, Brendel gets knocked flat on his caboose on that play and never had a chance to hold!

    1. I agree, I didn’t see any hold on that play. He does some good things and not so good things, but I’ll wait until the end of the year to fully evaluate him.

  5. Stephen A on ESPN keeps calling JG “Porn Star Jimmy.” Despicable, really. Yet he keeps doing it. JG only went out with that woman once. Just shows the level of disrespect Stephen A has for the Niners quarterback.

    1. He’s an idiot. I never watch him. Jimmy is a mid tier quarterback (#15 or above). There aren’t many who can carry a team and most teams will stick with a mid tier QB because it’s a real gamble you take trying to find someone better. It’s easy to criticize and want to get rid of a QB, coach or Oline for those of us who sit on our couch on Sunday but we aren’t responsible for finding someone better.

      1. It’s a bit odd that an offensive genius can’t groom a quarterback or recognize one when he sees one. I think Shanny has been good evaluating receivers and possibly running backs but he doesn’t seem to have an eye for QBs. The jury is out on Lance, though. And Lance seemed to have some of the right tools including intelligence and fast processing ability between the ears plus the arm. Mechanics need work. We’ll find out.

        But the fact that Shanahan has always been enamored with Kirk Cousins makes me cringe. Another QB that doesn’t seem to be able to will his team to victory when it matters most, and makes critical mistakes.

        1. Do you have any evidence to back up your opinion that he can’t groom a quarterback or doesn’t have a eye for quarterbacks?

        2. Imo I think it’s time to stop thinking of Kyle as an offensive genius. He’s better than average but only fair to middling as a head coach. A better than average head coach wouldn’t slow-huddle when down 14 points with just a few minutes to go. Unless his mind froze up, the only reason I can think of doing that is if you’ve given up but don’t want to make it look obvious. Neither would be good. I’m not calling for his being replaced, though, but think it would be reasonable for Jed to consider giving the job to Ryans and having him make the OC hire. I doubt Jed would do that, though. His main concern seems to be milking the franchise for all the dough. York to the end.

          1. George,
            I would question his hiring practices but not his willingness to spend. He signed Tomsula and Kelly to multi year contracts but instead of denying his mistake and holding on to either of them he fired both of them and paid them for a # of years while also paying the new coach. There are many things you can criticize Jed for but being cheap is not one of them. The 9ers are always a stones throw away from the top of the cap. I think his rep for being cheap goes back to when his Dad was running the team. He was cheap.

            1. When I said “York to the end,” I didn’t mean him being cheap, although I can see one could interpret my words that way. What I meant was that he cares more about revenues than the product (WL record, playoff and SB victories) unless the product threatens revenues. You’ll remember what happened to fan attendance during the Tomsula/Kelly years and why those coaches had to go.
              I think the best example revealing the York attitude (revenues over winning) was the design for Levi’s. I assumed they’d assure home field advantage, like Seattle did. The rest is history.
              The team does have a very good front office, a very good roster, and very good position coaches. I attribute the front office and roster to Lynch and the people he hired. I attribute the position coaches to Kyle, naturally. But against good teams, except for the Rams — which is a wonderment — Kyle gets extremely conservative and isn’t a difference maker, at least that’s my take.

  6. Gavin,
    As to who KS is good at evaluating. I don’t know who is pulling the trigger on the drafting/signing of defensive players but it is one area that the team excells. If KS has a hand in that area then he is also doing a good job there.

    1. Contractually Lynch is in charge of drafting but it’s a process where scouts bring up names they like and others, like position coaches, have their say as does the Asst. GM. At some point they rank people for their draft board. There are a lot of people involved in the process. I’ve heard Lynch say he’s going to ask foe Kyles input and wouldn’t draft someone Kyle doesn’t like but it’s highly doubtful in my view that Kyle gets involved in all draft picks.

  7. In looking at these plays, 2 things seem pretty obvious to me: 1) the 49ers got outcoached, and 2) the O-line played a major role in the failure in each play.

    On the run plays, the defense had 8 and 9 men in the box. Corners were crashing down without any concern whatsoever with the pass. It was almost as if with down/distance/ and formation the defense knew whether it would be run or pass pre-snap. And the O-line got zero push on any play. Both Guards easily allow 2 gap defenders to control the point of attack. This is not good blocking.

    On the pass plays, Jimmy got hit several times. On the first pass play, I think, Jaylen Moore and Aaron Banks have a good combo block but Banks leaves to help on an interior rush – which he has absolutely no reason to leave – and Moore gets beat inside where Banks should have been so the defender hits Jimmy low. On the other plays, Jimmy and Brendel do a poor job of pre-snap reads and assignments.

    Lastly, that Hold call on Brendel was total BS. Brendel got trucked. He didn’t pull the defender down. He didn’t grab and pull in any way. The defender trucked Brendel and then tripped over Brendel’s body on the ground. It was humiliating enough. No reason for that flag.

    1. 1. How did they get outcoached and which coaches are you talking about? That’s a pretty bold statement so I assume you have some details.
      2. Atlanta’s goal in this game was to stop our run game. They loaded the box and succeeded. I wonder why the line didn’t get much push on the run plays. On pass plays there was zero sacks, only a few hits and pressures. Most people would call that a good day. Not perfect of course since both starting tackles were out and the interior guys are all new.

      1. @Felix

        1. I clearly stated how they got coached. Not sure how you missed it. The defense was able to read Run/Pass pre snap based on the Down-Distance-Formation. Falcons defense literally made 0 effort to guard the pass on run plays. Play action pass was totally ineffective. That’s good scouting on the defenses part and poor self scouting on the 49ers coaches part. I’m saying the 49ers got outcoached in game preparation and scouting during the week. Falcons defense clearly knew what was coming before the snap.

        2. Also, I clearly stated why the o-line was a problem. They get no push at all, Nada. None, zilch. I don’t pay for the advanced stats but would be interesting to see the distance to 1st contact for the 49er RBs. My guess is its’ less than 1 yard from LOS on the year. When a DL is playing 2 tech on either Guard the D-lineman seems to easily hold the point of attack and control the O-lineman. If anyone gets pushed back it’s always the OG getting pushed into the backfield. DL can read the play, shed the block and get in on the tackle rather easily. Banks seems to do pretty good on 1 Tech DL alignment in the A Gap. Banks simply crashes down on that alignment. As far as Pass Pro, the Falcons got 4 hits on the QB and many pressures taking Jimmy G off the point. It’s not terrible but it is the reason Jimmy has to get rid of the ball so fast.

        As you said, the Falcons geared up to stop the run game. They were over aggressive on run plays and it worked. Falcons gave up 4.9 yards per rush against Seattle. The 49ers got 3.1 yards per rush. Because the Falcons were over playing the run you’d expect the passing game to carry the 49ers to some points. Jimmy G had a decent game. He went 29/41 for 296 yards and 2/2. His distribution was pretty good. But to only score 14 points and give the Falcons 7 points while the 49ers were on offense was a disaster of an offensive performance. The 49ers allowed the Falcons to dictate what they were doing on offense. They are forced to do that because the O-line gets no push in the run game and they aren’t good enough to give Jimmy G time in the pocket to beat teams in the passing game. Average defenses can hold this 49er offense down simply by playing 5 D Lineman and stack the box against the run. Thats it. It’s that simple. And it all starts with an ineffective O line.

  8. Pat,
    I couldn’t agree more and before Felix gets the chance to question “your facts” Felix the facts are in the film.

    1. We must have watched different games and I won’t bore you with facts and reasons since you’ve made it pretty clear you’re not into such things.

  9. Jack,
    As much as I try to stay positive and deflect criticism on JG, Shanahan and the 49ers, I must agree that you are honestly right.

    Yes, Garoppolo is making a strong bid in showing that he can’t put the team on his back.
    But, I think that we all knew this when he took over for the injured Trey.
    And we all knew that the strength of the team was the defense. And it still is, when the starters are on the field. The bench players are good, but there’s a reason why they are backup and not starters.

    Atlanta’s running game mimicked the 49ers and that is what frustrated me most about the defense inability to stop it. I would assume that the 49ers defense sees this in practice every day.

    Jack, while your analysis is on point, I have to wonder how the outcome might have been if our starters had played.
    Our starting defense was supposed to compensate for Jimmy’s mistakes. I believe that once we get them back on the field that things will fall into place.

    1. Jimmy’s mistakes didn’t cost us any points but the 2 dropped passes most surely did as did Wilson’s fumble, but I get it – Jimmy’s the main problem. It would have most likely been a different game if the starters hadn’t been injured. It would have been a different game if those 2 passes hadn’t been dropped or even that poor call on Brendan’s hold not made. Atlanta’s first spring O line is better than our second string D line which is to be expected. Those dropped passes really hurt us.

      1. Felix/Cubus
        I agree.
        And what is a little irritating is that Jimmy actually had a pretty good game. Sure, there were the usual hic-cups in Garoppolo’s game, but even with those, JG has overcome them and the overall talent on the team finds ways to win.
        Bottom line… We need to get our starters back!

    2. AES:

      It seems to me to be a mistake to assume that JG can make a play every single offensive play. It’s not like the 49ers are playing against a peewee football team. Did Jimmy miss some plays – of course – every QB does and Jimmy does more so than the elite QBs. Did he make some really good throws (better than we have seen for quite some time) – yes he did. And his receivers let him down; those couple of deep throws weren’t even contested by the defense and were near perfect. You can’t have receivers dropping those types of passes – such opportunities don’t come along that often when playing against a decent NFL team.

      I felt that Jimmy played a good game, but mostly his team mates let him down.

  10. How many offensive genius head coaches can find and develop great QBs whenever they want? Zero. It’s a crap shoot. Just like the draft, every year. How many sure fire number one draft picks are busts 3-4 years later? Less than the number that are home runs.

    1. There are posters on this blog who hilariously think they could do a better job drafting than a professional football organization.

      1. Felix,
        I’ve been a 49ers fan since the early 60′ (yeah, I’m old, lol) and believe me, there have always been fans that feel they could do a better job than the coaches/GM and even the owners.
        Nature of the beast.

  11. AES and Felix,
    I can’t speak for any one other than myself and I am aware that I couldn’t do a better job than KS, JL or any of the coaching staff but there are times I believe that there are others in the industry who might do a better job than those listed above.

      1. Felix,
        How old are you? You act like a disrespectful teenager. Why don’t you just ignore my ridiculous Posts and I will ignore your incredibly insightful posts. Please.

    1. Hypothetically, which headcoach(es) would you propose to hand the reins to if Shanahan fails?

      I like Mike Tomlin, but doubt that he would be available. Some have pitched Sean Payton, but I can’t get over his complicity in the Gregg Williams pay for injury against the 49ers.
      I really can’t think of any others at the moment.
      And how would they fair with the many injuries on the team right now?
      Until further notice, I’m riding it out with Kyle Shanahan.

      1. AES,
        I agree with you I would stick with KS for now. I think the 9ers just need some adjustments not major changes. As far as replacing KS if it came to that, I don’t know. I have always felt the two most difficult jobs in NFL football are, hiring HC’s and drafting QB’s. Ken Dorsey the OC for Buffalo is an interesting thought but there have been so many great coordinators that have been huge failures as HC’s. I also don’t like college HC’s without any NFL experience. Jim Harbaugh is in town this week I have always felt the biggest mistake Jed ever made was firing Harbaugh and it is pretty commonly known that Harbaugh would like to return to the NFL. I just don’t believe two men with the egos that JH and Jed possess could ever come back together.

        1. Coach,
          I’m leary of college headcoaches coming to the NFL.
          Chip Kelly, Bobby Petrino, Lou Holtz and Nick Saban have failed on the NFL level.

          I really like Jim Harbaugh, but I have my doubts that he could find long term success on the NFL level again.

          I honestly can’t think of anyone better than Shanahan right now.

          1. Why do you suppose so many college head coaches fail in the NFL? I think it might be because the game is different and the players are different. In the case of Urban Meyer, he didn’t understand the professional player. I think more of them would be successful if they spent a couple years as a coordinator first. Harbaugh made the transition and was successful but he had 13 years experience as an NFL quarterback. I think in general coaches get fired way too fast. How often does a team fire coaches one after the other and the team never improves. Sometimes I think it’s just to placate fans and not really doing the work to figure out what the problem really is. Case in point York and Harbaugh.

            1. Felix,
              Urban Meyer is a great example. And you are correct that the game and the players are different at the college level.
              Coaching kids coming out of high school is an entirely different scenario then coaching grown men.

              I don’t believe that college coaches can make a successful leap to the pros because of the age and maturity level that they have to face.
              It’s a huge difference.

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