Jimmy Garoppolo leads surging 49ers to 44-33 win against playoff-bound Jaguars

The Jacksonville Jaguars, who own the top-ranked defense in the NFL in points allowed, gave up 44 to the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday. Starting his fourth-straight game for San Francisco, quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo has altered the attitude of the young 49ers team that is becoming accustomed to winning.

Garoppolo guided the 49ers to their fourth-straight victory, helping to beat the Jaguars 44-33. He completed 21 of his 30 pass attempts for 242 yards while throwing two touchdown passes and running for another score.

"It all came together real nice today," Garoppolo said after the game. "That's what makes a good team, and so we're moving in the right direction right now, and it seems week by week, we just keep getting better."

The 49ers improved to 5-10 and Garoppolo has not yet tasted defeat as a starting NFL quarterback. He is a perfect 6-0.

Garoppolo's 102.4 passer rating against Jacksonville is the highest allowed by the Jaguars this season and his 1,250 passing yards as the 49ers' starting quarterback are the most by a San Francisco quarterback in his first four starts in franchise history.

"Jimmy G. has definitely been a big difference for us," 49ers running back Carlos Hyde said. "Just him coming in with that natural leadership he already has. It just has been really good for us. Putting these games back-to-back, even winning close games where at the beginning of the season we lost close games."

Hyde had 21 carries for 54 yards and a touchdown. Rookie running back Matt Breida led the 49ers in rushing with 74 yards on 11 carries and a 30-yard touchdown to seal the victory in the closing minutes of the game.

Garoppolo hit nine different receivers against the Jaguars, including fullback Kyle Juszczyk, who had five receptions for a single-game career-high 74 yards receiving and a career-long 44-yard reception.

"I think everything started off pretty perfect in that game and I think our guys were going," Shanahan said. "Then we faced some bad adversity coming into the locker room. I think it was 16-16 at halftime and we felt like we should have probably been up by a lot more than that and to do that and them start out with a field goal. To be able to overcome that and our guys not change, that's what I was most proud of with our team."

Despite the loss to the 49ers, Jacksonville did manage to clinch its first division title since 1999 thanks to a loss earlier in the afternoon by the Tennessee Titans.

While Blake Bortles threw for 382 yards and two touchdowns for the Jaguars, he also threw three interceptions, including one returned for a touchdown by 49ers cornerback Dontae Johnson in the first half.

The 49ers defense held the Jaguars to just 92 rushing yards on 28 carries. Rookie running back Leonard Fournette had only 48 yards but came away with a touchdown. San Francisco has now held their opponent under 100 rushing yards for the fifth-consecutive game.

The 49ers finish the season on Sunday, December 31 against the Los Angeles Rams at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.