ESPN personality, Stephen A. Smith, has been critical of the San Francisco 49ers this year. Much of that criticism is focused on quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo.
Not too much has changed after the 49ers' hard-fought loss to the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday.
Despite the defeat, Smith was left impressed, maybe even more so than before, with the 49ers. San Francisco lost by three points to one of the best teams in the league.
The 49ers' defense held quarterback Lamar Jackson to a career-low (as a starter) 105 yards passing. The athletic signal-caller, however, still had 101 yards running the football on the rain-soaked M&T Bank Stadium field, proving that he is tough to contain, even for one of the best defenses in the league.
"Considering who they were going up against, how unstoppable he is, particularly with read-option plays and other things, you can't say enough about the job that I think San Francisco's defense did yesterday," Smith said.
Baltimore entered the game averaging 35.1 points per game but was held to just 20 on Sunday. The heavily-promoted matchup lived up to the hype despite the 49ers having to travel across the country to play in an early game with poor weather conditions.
"This (Ravens) offense has been a juggernaut, and San Francisco showed up yesterday," Smith continued.
But, of course, Garoppolo didn't escape Smith's regularly scheduled criticism.
"They had a running game," Smith added. "If Jimmy G had been more formidable throwing the football as opposed to a pedestrian 15-for-21 performance for 175 yards. Had he done just a little bit more, who knows what the outcome would have been."
Fifteen of 21, by the way, is a completion rate of 71.4 percent and Garoppolo finished with a passer rating of 110.2. San Francisco's running backs carried the football 24 times with Raheem Mostert rushing for a career-high 146 yards with one touchdown on 19 carries. The game plan might have been different under more comfortable weather conditions.
Smith, Max Kellerman, and Dan Orlovsky go on to discuss San Francisco's identity, the in-game decision-making, and more. You can watch the segment below.
