Jimmy Garoppolo expecting ‘another dogfight’ vs. Patriots, feels 49ers are finding their identity

The San Francisco 49ers are scheduled to face the New England Patriots in Foxborough next weekend. It will be a bit of a homecoming for quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, who spent his first three seasons learning from Tom Brady and Bill Belichick before being traded to Kyle Shanahan's squad in 2017.

"It will be cool to get back to the old stomping grounds, see some familiar faces," Garoppolo said after the home-team 49ers knocked off the Los Angeles Rams. "But we'll enjoy this one tonight, get on the film for the Patriots and everything tomorrow, and this win will definitely give us a little momentum. But next week is going to be another dogfight."

The Patriots are struggling, sit at 2-3, and are coming off two consecutive losses. The injury-plagued 49ers responded to an embarrassing Week 5 loss and hope Sunday night's win is just the start of something special. Many had already written off the defending NFC champions.

"We're definitely moving in the right direction," Garoppolo said. "I wouldn't say we're totally there yet. There's still a lot of football left in the season, but how we finished this game, it felt a lot like last year, just how we were controlling the clock at the end of the game, running the ball, converting third downs. That's when we really put teams away, and that's what we did tonight."

With one difficult game out of the way, the 49ers continue down their stretch of the more challenging portion of the schedule. After the Patriots next weekend, San Francisco will travel to face the Seattle Seahawks, then host the Green Bay Packers, and then head on the road to face the New Orleans Saints.

After the bye week, it's another game against the Rams — this time in Los Angeles — and then a home game against the Buffalo Bills.