Former San Francisco 49ers cornerback Richard Sherman, now an Amazon Thursday Night Football analyst, has continuously supported the team and quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo. After all, the Niners were Sherman's pick to win Super Bowl 57.
After San Francisco's 44-23 beatdown at the hands of the Kansas City Chiefs, the team Sherman and his 2019 49ers squad faced in Super Bowl 54, the cornerback sounds less confident in that prediction. The Niners' record dropped to 3-4, and Sherman isn't as sure about Garoppolo as he used to be.
The analyst was asked how much faith he still has in Garoppolo after a performance like Sunday's, when the quarterback earned his second-lowest Pro Football Focus grade of the season.
"It's wavering. No question," Sherman said on his weekly podcast. "I mean, it has to be wavering. But again, they have come back from bigger holes than this. So the finger isn't just pointed at Jimmy G. It's everywhere right now.
"If this was a defensive battle like it was in Denver, and the other team only scored 11 points, and you still lost the game, then I'm sure it would be a lot more finger-pointing at Jimmy G. But they were moving the ball on offense. Sure, he missed opportunities when they had to have points, when they needed to have points. Those were missed [opportunities]. We have to get people stopped."
Garoppolo finished the game 25-of-37 for 303 yards, two touchdowns, an interception, and a passer rating of 99.3. Those are not terrible numbers, but they are not nearly enough when facing an elite offense with quarterback Patrick Mahomes at the helm.
The 49ers defense surrendered 529 total yards to the Chiefs. Kansas City's 44 points were the most given up by the 49ers in a home game since October 11, 2009 (Falcons). The Chiefs offense averaged 9.1 yards per play, the most allowed by the 49ers since 1965, per ESPN Stats and Info.
"Forty-four points on the board is unacceptable for a top-five defense, and that's what they are," Sherman continued. "They have top-five talent everywhere on the board, and they have to play better. And they know that, and they will. But right now, it's a lot of man-in-the-mirror kind of deal, conversations. Everybody's got to look and get that person fixed before they can point the finger at anybody else."
You can listen to Sherman's podcast below.