There was no doubt that the criticisms were coming. Sunday was San Francisco 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo's opportunity to prove his doubters wrong, and he got sacked in his effort. Forget the fourth-quarter collapse to the Kansas City Chiefs. Garoppolo still had a chance to steal the spotlight from Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, and couldn't do it.
Yes, there is plenty of blame to throw around for the Super Bowl LIV loss, but — right or wrong — Garoppolo is going to have to endure much of it this offseason.
Here is just a small sample of some of the national criticism rolling out from the media on Monday morning.
Dan Orlovsky of ESPN
Analyst Dan Orlovsky responds to the theory that head coach Kyle Shanahan lost the Super Bowl for the 49ers.
"I completely disagree," Orlovsky said. "Kyle Shanahan kept the Chiefs in the Super Bow, but Jimmy G lost the Super Bowl."
Orlovsky points to some critical errors in the fourth-quarter on Garoppolo's part, including missing an open George Kittle on a well-designed play by Shanahan and overthrowing a deep pass to Emmanuel Sanders that might have sealed the win.
Nick Wright of Fox Sports
"He had an opportunity to be a hero, and he failed to come through," Wright said on First Things First.
Wright doesn't believe Garoppolo should shoulder all of the blame for the loss, acknowledging that the 49ers quarterback played "extraordinarily" during portions of the game.
"But the first two drives of the game, he was really bad, and the end of the game, he was horrible," Wright said.
The Fox Sports host believes it was Garoppolo's time to shine with his team trailing by four at the end of the game and going against a "less-than-dominant" Chiefs defense. The 49ers quarterback couldn't get it done.
"Jimmy Garoppolo failed in that spot," Wright adds.
Stephen A. Smith of ESPN
It is important to note that ESPN personality Stephen A. Smith has already placed most of his blame for the 49ers' collapse on the shoulders of Shanahan, who he feels "coached scared" against Mahomes and the Chiefs.
Garoppolo, who Smith has criticized all season, didn't escape without at least some of the blame, though. Smith called the quarterback's performance early and late in the game "flat out pathetic."
"The last 11 minutes, I think he was like three of [11] for like 36 yards," Smith explained. "A quarterback rating of 3 — of 3 — going up against Patrick Mahomes! I just want to sit up here and say this for the record; I'm not going to disrespect him ... Here's the problem, OK?
"The only thing that saves Jimmy Garoppolo (from receiving more of the blame) today was his coach because [Kyle] Shanahan, with the exception of six points that New England scored in overtime of Super Bowl 51 ... Kyle Shanahan ... he's been outscored 40-0 in the fourth quarter (of the Super Bowl)."
Smith goes on to say that Shanahan clearly didn't trust Garoppolo early on in Super Bowl LIV, and the quarterback showed everyone why in the fourth quarter.
The good news? Smith promised to stop using the term "Porn Star Jimmy." So, there's that.
