Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
It's widely considered the one play that could have dramatically changed the outcome of Super Bowl LIV. No, I'm not talking about the San Francisco 49ers defense's failed attempt to stop "2-3 Jet Chip Wasp" on 3rd-and-15. I'm talking about the missed fourth-quarter connection between quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo and wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders that likely would have sealed a San Francisco victory and championship.
I say "missed connection" rather than "overthrow by Garoppolo" because most have been quick to place the blame of that failed play on the quarterback's shoulders. Peter Schrager of
Good Morning Football doesn't sound so sure it was all on Garoppolo, though.
The morning-show hosts
conducted a round table this week discussing the best coach-quarterback duos in the NFC West. While Nate Burleson went with the Seattle Seahawks and Kyle Brandt with the Arizona Cardinals, Schrager picked Kyle Shanahan and Garoppolo in San Francisco (or Santa Clara).
"I think Kyle Shanahan and Jimmy Garoppolo have something going for them this season where everyone's writing Jimmy off," Schrager explained. "... It's as if Jimmy Garoppolo didn't do anything last season. In fact, I saw Jimmy Garoppolo go into New Orleans and outplay Drew Brees, and lead his team on an 80-yard drive to win a game they needed to in the middle of the regular season.
"I saw Jimmy Garoppolo in Week 17 go into Seattle with Russell Wilson and all his amazing prime-time performances and beat him in his building to win an NFC West title.
"I know he only threw the ball eight times in the playoff win over the Packers. I know that Vikings win was really about the running game and getting it going, and, of course, what Kittle did in the blocking. Don't sleep on a team that had a quarterback and an offensive-minded head coach go right from 4-12 to a Super Bowl last year."
During the breakdown of why he picked Shanahan and Garoppolo, Schrager potentially shifted some of the blame for that missed connection with Sanders away from Garoppolo, suggesting that maybe it wasn't all on the quarterback.
"I'll go with Jimmy and Kyle," Schrager continued, "and I will go with the edge of everybody forgetting everything they did because of a Super Bowl loss. Hey, if Garoppolo hits Emmanuel Sanders on that pass, we're talking about a Super Bowl champion. You know what? I'm not so sure that was on Jimmy. That might have been on Emmanuel Sanders not catching that ball."
Garoppolo, however, shouldered the blame for the missed opportunity on the potentially game-changing throw to Sanders.
"Obviously, some throws I wish I had back, some throws I made differently,"
Garoppolo said three days after the heartbreaking defeat. "The one to E, just missing him, putting a little too much on it. But you've got to be a man. You've got to own up to those things. So, some things I'd rather have back, but this whole year, it's been incredible."
Garoppolo added that the Super Bowl loss would fuel both the team and himself this offseason.
Several San Francisco 49ers players took part in this week's State of the Franchise event. One of the topics of conversation surrounded the possibility of a Super Bowl hangover. As tough as it is for a Super Bowl champion to claw its way back to the mountaintop, it is even tougher for the runner-up. All too often, that second-place team will regress the next season, but 49ers players don't see that happening with this squad.
Why is that? What makes this 49ers team so different from past Super Bowl runner-ups? What makes its players think that they can get back and win it all, this time?
"I think it's the guys in our building and the leadership that we have," responded offensive tackle Mike McGlinchey during the conversation with Keiana Martin and Greg Papa. "It's
The Aaron Rodgers to San Francisco 49ers talk is starting early. Maybe nearly a year early.
First, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk explored the idea of the future Hall of Famer joining his hometown team and the organization that passed him up in 2005 for Alex Smith. Now, ESPN's First Take is joining the discussion.
Rodgers' days in Green Bay may be numbered after the team selected Jordan Love in the first round of April's draft. After enduring over a month of discussion earlier this offseason surrounding Tom Brady potentially replacing Jimmy Garoppolo in San Francisco, it seems like fans might have to put up with talk about the next possible Garoppolo replacement.
That's what analyst Domonique Foxworth, along with ESPN personality Stephen
Kyle Shanahan spoke with the voice of the San Francisco 49ers, Greg Papa, during the team's virtual State of the Franchise event this week. The head coach was asked what he sees from his quarterback, Jimmy Garoppolo, who isn't worried about recovering from an ACL injury this offseason.
"I think Jimmy had an unbelievable year last year," Shanahan said. "When you look at him statistically, just percentages and stuff of what he did, he's extremely accurate, kept us in some very good situations, and won a few games for us, too. He had a number of games where he had to come out huge on some 3rd-and-longs, some last-minute drives, and make some big plays that won us some games."
Shanahan noted Garoppolo's improvement from last offseason, to the start of the regular
