For all of Jimmy Garoppolo's naysayers, and there have been plenty of reasons to be one, you have to admit he has been pretty damn good as of late. At least, that's what the numbers say.
It's what general manager John Lynch sees, too.
"He's running our system exactly how we want," Lynch said Tuesday morning on KNBR. "The thing I love about Jimmy, he doesn't care if we run it 40 times, throw it 40 times -- just wants to win. We love that about him."
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Garoppolo completed 18 of his 23 pass attempts for 235 yards and one touchdown Sunday in the 49ers' 31-13 blowout win over the Atlanta Falcons. He again executed coach Kyle Shanahan's system to perfection, even taking a few chances down the field. This is anything new either.
The veteran quarterback came into the season surrounded by questions after the 49ers selected QB Trey Lance with the No. 3 pick in the 2021 NFL Draft. Garoppolo didn't help his case early this season. Through the first seven weeks of the season, Garoppolo's 56.8 average Pro Football Focus grade was tied for 28th out of 32 quarterbacks. But in Weeks 8 through 15, Garoppolo's 86.5 average PFF grade leads the entire NFL.
Over that eight-game span, Garoppolo has completed 69 percent of his pass attempts for 2,066 yards and 12 touchdowns, and has been interecepted four times. The 49ers also have gone 6-2 in those eight games.
Again, both Garoppolo and Shanahan deserve credit for his better play. When you have safety valves like Deebo Samuel and George Kittle, it certainly helps. Shanahan isn't asking him to do too much -- averaging 28.6 pass attempts per game -- and Garoppolo, for the most part, is doing what's asked of him.
San Francisco 49ers
As much as he has been happy to see Garoppolo give the 49ers a better product on the field, Lynch is just as proud with how his QB has handled adversity this season.
"Jimmy is a competitor, Marcus, he really," Lynch said to Marcus Thompson. "I think everything from his record to the way he plays ... and I know for whatever reason, he frustrates people at some point, but he's incredibly talented.
"We made a tough decision to go out and get Trey Lance and he's responded like great competitors do. It's brought out the best in him."
Lynch also believes that Garoppolo was playing well at the start of the season, and the majority of his struggles had to do with a calf and Achilles injury.
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As Lance continues to shine in practice, Garoppolo has grown into an even more respected leader and his play has the 49ers sitting pretty. San Francisco currently is sixth in the NFC playoff standings, and Garoppolo can either greatly improve that or see the 49ers' dreams go down the drain.
These final three games should play a big part in how loud or quiet Garoppolo's haters will be heard in the coming weeks. They haven't been silenced, but they have been somewhat shushed.
For now.