San Francisco 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo is coming off a career-best four-touchdown Thursday Night Football game in Week 9 against the Arizona Cardinals.
On a night when the Niners run game averaged just 3.3 yards per play, along with the usually stout defense allowing a season-high 25 points, Garoppolo was largely responsible for putting the team on his shoulders in prime time. And aside from passing for those four touchdowns, Garoppolo was instrumental in converting many of the third-down attempts San Francisco had in the game.
In total, the 49ers were 11-of-17 on third downs, and many of those conversions came in the waning minutes of the game when the Cardinals were staging a comeback and looking to capture the lead and a possible upset.
Instead, Garoppolo and the Niners stayed undefeated and improved to a perfect 8-0 at the season's halfway mark.
"This is the Jimmy G that can help this team win a Super Bowl," former NFL defensive back and current Good Morning Football analyst DeAngelo Hall said on Saturday. "You've got [Cardinals cornerback] Patrick Peterson in coverage, one of the best shutdown corners in the league. But if you can beat him, you can beat anybody in this league in man-to-man coverage."
"This is the Jimmy G that can help this team win a Super Bowl."@DeAngeloHall23 breaks down why we can trust @JimmyG_10 after his impressive performance against the #Cardinals pic.twitter.com/80asp37fvp
— GMFB (@gmfb) November 2, 2019
One of the players Peterson was primarily responsible for covering was the newly acquired wide receiver, Emmanuel Sanders, who led all pass catchers with seven receptions for 112 yards and a touchdown.
Sanders seems to have already developed a strong rapport with Garoppolo, greatly shaking up a passing offense which was in the lower tier of teams despite San Francisco's strong start to 2019.
"Jimmy G is showing me, that with the playmakers they have on the offensive side of the ball, Emmanuel Sanders... I didn't like the pickup, initially. I love it now," Hall continued. "Sanders, with what he's able to do. Watching [head coach] Kyle Shanahan manipulate defense and putting his guys in positions to make plays.
"I've got all the confidence in the world in Kyle and Jimmy G."