INGLEWOOD -- Jimmy Garoppolo has known it was coming for a while, but that didn't make the 49ers' 20-17 NFC Championship Game loss to the Los Angeles Rams at SoFi Stadium on Sunday any easier to stomach.
"They hit pretty hard in the locker room," Garoppolo said of his emotions of what likely is his final 49ers game after the loss. "I think these next couple days it will really start to settle in a little bit. Emotions are high after a game win or loss. It's one of those things you have to be glad it happened, smile and think about the good things.
"I love this team. The fight and the battle in this team throughout the entire year has been really impressive and I love those guys."
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Garoppolo entered the season as a lame-duck quarterback after the 49ers traded up in the 2021 NFL Draft to select Trey Lance. Garoppolo spent the entire season knowing that he was always potentially a slump or injury away from being replaced.
The clock has been ticking. The sand slowly draining from the hourglass, but Garoppolo and the 49ers have scratched, clawed and fought over the last three weeks to extend his tenure for as long as possible. They rallied from a 17-point Week 18 deficit to get into the playoffs, survived a furious Dallas Cowboys comeback in the wild-card round and upset the top-seeded Green Bay Packers in subzero temperatures to get back to the Super Bowl's doorstep.
They did it all with Garoppolo battling through a torn ligament in his thumb and a sprained throwing shoulder.
The 49ers arrived in Southern California one win away from their second Super Bowl berth in three seasons. Sixty minutes away from Garoppolo finishing off what would be an improbable final chapter to a tenure that had peaks and valleys.
San Francisco 49ers
Having lost six straight games to a 49ers team that has run the ball down their throat, the Rams changed things up on defense. Whenever the 49ers sent a man in motion, they blitzed through the gaps, selling out to make sure Deebo Samuel and Elijah Mitchell couldn't get going.
The message was clear: if you want to get to the Super Bowl, Jimmy Garoppolo is going to have to beat us.
That's indicative of Garoppolo's time with the 49ers. This 49ers team, with Garoppolo at the helm, was only going to go as far as his right arm could take them. Eventually, teams would bottle up Kyle Shanahan's vaunted rushing attack and ask Garoppolo to make tight-window throws over and over again to win games.
And through three quarters Sunday in Southern California, it looked like Garoppolo was more than up to the task.
Garoppolo was slinging the ball at SoFi Stadium, going 13-for-21 for 202 yards and two touchdowns as the 49ers took a 17-7 lead late in the third quarter. The 30-year-old quarterback gave the Rams a few early chances at a turnover, but LA couldn't capitalize and brilliant throws to George Kittle, Brandon Aiyuk and Jauan Jennings pointed to this being Garoppolo's day.
Pointed to the show continuing for two more weeks.
As has been the case throughout his 49ers tenure, the fourth quarter came and the tide shifted.
Garoppolo went just 3-for-9 for 30 yards, one interception and a rating of 4.2 out of 156.
The 49ers' offense as a whole fell apart in the final frame. As the Rams mounted a comeback, the 49ers kept shooting themselves in the foot.
They had a second-and-1 run at midfield blown up for a loss of 1, and then the ensuing third-and-2 give to Kyle Juszczyk went nowhere. Shanahan's decision to punt from plus territory on fourth-and-2 might have put the nail in the 49ers' coffin well before Garoppolo let his final pass as a 49er go. There was a delay of game, tipped passes, and pre-play confusion. They didn't register a positive offensive play in the final 12:02 of the game.
Really, nothing went right for the 49ers in the final stanza.
And yet, Garoppolo had two chances, one with the game tied at 17 and one trailing by three, to be the hero and deliver the 49ers back to the Super Bowl.
But neither were the stuff of legends.
After an incomplete pass to George Kittle and a delay of game, Garoppolo was flushed right on second-and-15 and tried to squeeze the ball into Brandon Aiyuk while throwing on the run. The ball was off the mark and should have been intercepted by Jalen Ramsey, but fell harmlessly to the turf. The offensive line was blown up on the next play and Garoppolo's pass to Travis Benjamin fell incomplete.
Garoppolo took the field likely for the final time as a 49er with 1:46 left, needing to get San Francisco into field-goal range to send the game to overtime.
On first-and-10, Garoppolo's pass was batted down by Greg Gaines at the line. On second down, Garoppolo checked it down to Jauan Jennings in the left flat for a loss of 3. Then, on third-and-13, Garoppolo took what most believe will be his final snap as a 49er.
Aaron Donald put right tackle Daniel Brunskill on skates, quickly collapsing the pocket on Garoppolo. Garoppolo tried to escape to the left but Donald got a hold of him. Not wanting to take a sack, Garoppolo tried to flip the ball backhanded to JaMycal Hasty. But the ball clanged off the running back's hands and into the arms of Rams linebacker Travin Howard.
Thus, with one final desperation toss, the Jimmy Garoppolo 49ers died as they have lived for the last four-plus seasons. With Garoppolo being good enough to give them a chance, but not good enough to be the difference when the lights are the brightest.
In six career playoff starts, Garoppolo has a 28.0 quarterback rating in the fourth quarter, which ranks last among 69 quarterbacks with at least 30 fourth-quarter playoff pass attempts since 1991.
On Sunday, with the Rams daring him to beat them, Garoppolo had a Completion Percentage Over Expectation of minus-18. Which means he completed 18 percent fewer passes than expected based on scheme and receiver separation. Garoppolo should have completed 73 percent of his passes. He completed 55.
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Garoppolo's time with the 49ers likely will be remembered by the misses. The what-ifs. The overthrow of Emmanuel Sanders. The injuries. The inconsistency. The Cinderella run that came up just short. As the guy who was the guy until he wasn't.
But Garoppolo's lasting 49ers legacy, or at least the first line in his Niners obit, should be how he handled a situation many would view as untenable. He went to work every day for nine months knowing the 49ers wanted to and were ready to move on, and he was nothing but professional. He sent Lance a welcome text when the draft pick was made and never let the sometimes deafening outside noise get to him.
His relentless optimism and confidence calmed the 49ers and steeled them on their improbable deep playoff run. He was, by the very definition a leader. Maybe not the one the 49ers wanted, but the one this 2021 team.
"I don't know," Garoppolo said Sunday when asked how he dealt with it. "A lot of good people around me. Lot of good people in this organization. Players, people in general. Surround yourself with good people and good things will take care of themselves."
It wasn't an easy year for Garoppolo, but he performed admirably under difficult NFL circumstances. No one could have blamed if he had packed it in when the 49ers were 3-5. If he chose not to put his body on the line for an organization that had decided he wasn't good enough to get them where they want to go.
But he never blinked and never wavered. It became clear during the 49ers' playoff run just how much his teammates respect him, and if this is indeed the end, how much they'll miss what he brought.
“People wrote us off but we kept fighting. It’s what good teams do. It’s what tight brothers do and I got no regrets from this year," Garoppolo said.
Nor should he. Garoppolo gave the 49ers all he had. The tank was emptied, and on Sunday, it wasn't enough. It was a fitting finale to the Garoppolo rollercoaster one that now has both he and the 49ers turning the page to what comes next.
That's the starting quarterback gig. Part of the journey is the end.