The San Francisco 49ers just capped off yet another wild win in Week 17, beating the Seattle Seahawks 26-21 in a thrilling Sunday Night Football contest, securing the NFC West crown and the top seed in the conference during the playoffs.
Amid all the craziness of the game, however, quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo put himself amid some of the greatest passing seasons in franchise history. With 285 pass yards on the night, Garoppolo finished the season with 3,978 total yards on the season. While it would have been nice to see Garoppolo eclipse the 4,000-yard mark, which would have been the first time a Niners quarterback has done that since 2000, Jimmy G's season totals are still pretty noteworthy.
His 3,978 single-season yards now rank fourth-best among all San Francisco quarterbacks in franchise history, moving past the 3,969 pass yards Hall of Famer Steve Young tossed back in 1994.
Young still holds the franchise's No. 2 and No. 3 spots, though, with 4,170 and 4,023 yards in 1998 and 1993, respectively. Jeff Garcia remains the team's leader in this category with 4,278 passing yards, set back in the aforementioned 2000 season.
After the game, whether or not he knew about the record, Garoppolo seemed much more focused on the 49ers' playoff push instead of being ranked in the top four.
"It's got a nice ring to it," Garoppolo responded to NBC Sports' Michele Tafoya when asked about being NFC West champions. "It's a good step in the right direction, but we've got a long way to go, though."
Garoppolo's numbers were certainly aided by yards-after-the-catch threats, particularly on Sunday night with tight end George Kittle and wide receiver Deebo Samuel combining for 188 yards.
But Garoppolo put those players in position to make some key plays during the game, and the numbers reflect it.
Garoppolo and the 49ers now get to enjoy a first-round playoff bye and home-field advantage throughout the conference's postseason matchups.
Hat tip to Niners Wire's Kyle Madson for the find.
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Written by:Peter Panacy has been writing about the 49ers since 2011 for outlets like Bleacher Report, Niner Noise, 49ers Webzone, and is occasionally heard as a guest on San Francisco's 95.7 FM The Game and the Niners' flagship station, KNBR 680. Feel free to follow him, or direct any inquiries to his Twitter account.
