It’s Talking Touchdowns time, Faithful, and the Jimmy Garoppolo era is upon us.
Although the 49ers lost to the Seahawks, again, and although the 49ers are 1-10 (hey, that rhymes), there is something interesting brewing in Santa Clara and it goes by Jimmy Garoppolo.
The 49ers announced Tuesday that Garoppolo will start Sunday against the Chicago Bears and away we go.
San Francisco 49ers vs. Chicago Bears
- Garoppolo’s career in San Francisco started well with a scramble, two completions, including a touchdown to Louis Murphy. For his NFL career, Jimmy G has thrown for 708 yards, six touchdowns, and 0 interceptions.
- Without Trent Brown at right tackle Sunday, not only was C.J. Beathard beat up, but the 49ers’ run game was entirely ineffective. Carlos Hyde, who had been putting together a strong season, had 16 carries for 47 yards on Sunday. C.J. was the second best rusher with 21, though Garoppolo’s four was the run heard round the world (or at least Levi’s).
- The Bears have the 16th ranked run defense in the league, which is not terrible but not great. If the O-line can create some semblance on protection, Hyde should be able to find a few holes and get this going. The Niners relied heavily on the play-action on Sunday, and they may have to do that again.
- Over on defense, Eric Reid had a pretty fantastic day Sunday with an interception and seven total tackles. The 49ers were able to get their hands on Russell Wilson but they couldn’t sack him. This week, they face Mitchell Trubisky and Mitchell Trubisky is no Russell Wilson. He’s coming off a loss to the Eagles in which he threw two interceptions and no touchdowns while completing just over 50% of his passes. And he was sacked twice.
- Calling Reuben Foster and DeForest Buckner. The Bears had six, yes six, yards rushing against the Eagles. The Niners aren’t the Eagles, but even the 30th ranked 49er run defense should be able to capitalize, especially with Solomon Thomas and Tank Carradine having one game under their belts to shake off the rust.
Game Prediction
It’s Jimmy time. He’ll be in his hometown. It will be his first start as a 49er, and the Bears are not good. Neither are the 49ers, but I do think they’re better than the Bears, records aside. So I’m giving them the win. Go Niners!
[NFL-49ers-footer]Photo Credits:
- Jimmy Garoppolo holding jersey photographed by Chris Biderman
- 49ers on Wikimedia Commons by Sports Logos.Net
- Chicago Bears Logo on Wikimedia Commons by Chicago Bears
- CJ Beathard photographed by Tracy Sandler
- Trent Brown on Wikimedia Commons by Jeffrey Beall
- Carlos Hyde on wikimedia commons by Jeffrey Beall
- Eric Reid photographed by Tracy Sandler
- Russell Wilson on flickr by Keith Allison
- Solomon Thomas photographed by Tracy Sandler
- Tank Carradine on Wikimedia Commons by Jeffrey Beall
- Jimmy Garoppolo photographed by Tracy Sandler
