San Francisco 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo didn't come away with the win on Sunday against the Baltimore Ravens, but more often than not — a lot more often, in fact — he does. Garoppolo is 18-4 as a starting quarterback and 16-4 as the starter with San Francisco.
Despite completing nearly 70 percent of his passes this season, the perception surrounding Garoppolo seems to differ significantly between the local and national media. Nationally, the 49ers quarterback isn't given a whole lot of credit for the team's success, despite the team finishing with just four wins last year without him for most of the season.
Ian Rapoport of NFL Network joined KNBR on Monday morning and discussed the very different perspectives regarding Garoppolo, and was asked where he stands with the 49ers quarterback.
"I would say the view locally, which seems to be pretty much in full support of him, is different than what it is nationally," Rapoport explained on the "Murph and Mac" show, "and I don't quite know why. But nobody talks about Jimmy Garoppolo as one of the best young quarterbacks. Nobody talks about him, and the fact that when they have needed him, he has come to play. I mean, he's had a couple of games this year where he's needed to step up and really be the guy making the plays late, and he's done it.
"He's not a game manager. He's not a Trent Dilfer or someone -- I don't know; he's the most game-manager (quarterback) I can think of. But I don't think he's that, so I'm not quite sure why, nationally, he's not considered the head of one of the best teams in the NFL. Maybe it's because the defense is so good and the run game is so good.
"With that said, there's going to be a lot of opportunities to change the perception, and perception changes unbelievably quickly. [...] The Niners are going to have a big playoff game or two, and we'll see if he needs to step up and do it."
Garoppolo can kick off that perception change early with this weekend's matchup against the New Orleans Saints, which, depending on the outcome of Monday night's game between the Seattle Seahawks and Minnesota Vikings, could be for the top seed in the NFC.
You can listen to the entire conversation with Rapoport below.
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