Schrock's Week 8 takeaways: Jimmy G's issues clear in 49ers' loss
Injury aside, Jimmy Garoppolo's limitations as a quarterback were clear Sunday against the Seahawks' defense. Josh Schrock delivers his takeaways from Week 8 of the NFL season.
The 49ers entered Week 8 with momentum following back-to-back impressive wins over the Los Angeles Rams and New England Patriots. A win Sunday in Seattle would have put them officially back in the thick of the NFC West race.
But it was not to be.
Jimmy Garoppolo struggled to pick apart the Seahawks' secondary before re-injuring his ankle and leaving in the second half. The 37-27 loss puts the 49ers back at .500, forces them to pivot their attention to the wild-card race and might force them to answer some hard truths about their future at quarterback.
The rest of Week 8 was more interesting than the product the 49ers put on the field in Seattle. The Green Bay Packers opted not to tackle Dalvin Cook, the Buffalo Bills finally beat Bill Belichick in a meaningful game, the Raiders' defense won a rock fight in a wind storm and the Steelers continued their undefeated season by earing a gritty win over the rival Ravens.
Here are the biggest takeaways from Sunday's action.
If Tom Brady leaving and the Patriots getting routed at home by the 49ers in Week 7 didn't spell it out, then New England's deflating Week 8 loss to the Bills certainly did.
The run finally is over. It's time to reboot.
The Patriots had a chance to tie the game or take the lead in the waning seconds. But Cam Newton coughed the ball up with 37 seconds to play, the Bills recovered and exorcised two decades worth of demons in the process.
Keep in mind, the Patriots starting wide receivers Sunday were Damiere Byrd, Jakobi Myers, Gunner Olszewski and Isaiah Zuber. Who? Right. All four of those receivers were undrafted, putting a glaring spotlight on Belichick's numerous draft whiffs over the past five-to-nine years.
The Patriots are 2-5. Brady's not there to save them. They have drafted poorly for almost a decade and spent their free-agent money in the wrong places. The chickens are finally home to roost. It's time for the Patriots to officially hit reset and try to decide what the future looks like.
It certainly won't be as pretty as the past 20 seasons.
Lamar Jackson and the Ravens are a lot of fun to watch. When they are right, they are a freight train that is almost impossible to stop.
The problem is that freight train only seems to build up steam against opponents that are incapable of providing true resistance.
The Raves are 5-2 after Sunday's loss to the Steelers. Those five wins came against the Browns, Bengals, Eagles, Washington and Houston. Their other loss came when the Chiefs handled them in Week 3.
Baltimore's offense hasn't been as efficient or deadly as it was a year ago. Perhaps the Ravens found the antidote Sunday when they rushed for 265 yards behind rookie JK Dobbins and Gus Edwards with Mark Ingram inactive.
Still, Jackson's accuracy has been an issue this season. After opening the season with stellar performances against the Browns and Texans, Jackson has complete over 60 percent of his passes just once in the past five games. On Sunday, he was 13-for-28 for 208 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions.
After another loss to a Super Bowl contender, the Ravens have the look of the NFL's version of the Rockets. They are fun to watch and take joy in punking bad teams. But the results don't come when they matter most.
Last year, the Raiders were firmly in the playoff picture. Then, the Silver and Black failed to beat Sam Darnold, Gardner Minshew and Drew Lock, sending the Raiders to a 7-9 finish.
Sunday's Week 8 game against the Cleveland Browns was exactly the type of game the 2019 Raiders would have found a way to lose. The defense would have gotten gashed, even in a wind storm, and Derek Carr would have once again come up short in the cold.
None of that was the case Sunday in Cleveland. Facing a Browns team that they will be jockeying for a wild-card spot with down the stretch, the Raiders' much-maligned defense held the Browns to six points (with the help of 25-mph winds) and Carr made numerous plays with his legs in the second half to keep the offense on the field.
The result was a 16-6 win and a 4-3 record heading into a Week 9 tilt with a Chargers team that is much better than its 2-5 record.
Jon Gruden's club has several issues. The defense remains a huge issue that will eventually spell the end of their season.
But this is a lengthy rebuilding plan for Gruden, and Sunday showed progress from a year ago. If the Raiders want to make the playoffs, they have to beat teams who they believe they are equal to or better than.
Sunday's win against the Browns could end up being the difference between an 8-8 or 9-7 season that ends after Week 17 and a trip to the postseason.
Slowly but surely, Gruden's plan is taking hold.
Kyle Shanahan had schemed the 49ers to wins over the previous two weeks, making sure to keep Jimmy Garoppolo comfortable and not ask him to make high-pressure throws down the field.
Garoppolo executed the plan with relative success. Sunday was set up to be the day where Garoppolo, by all accounts healthy after a high-ankle sprain earlier in the season, would show he had taken the expected leap and dissect a Seahawks' secondary that has been shredded all season.
Coming into Sunday's game, the Seahawks were allowing an NFL-worst 479 yards per game and 370 passing yards. A lot of those yards were given up in the middle of the field, where Garoppolo prefers to work. It was set up for George Kittle to run wild and for Brandon Aiyuk to have another big game.
That didn't happen.
Garoppolo struggled from the opening kickoff. He missed a wide-open Kittle over the middle on the first drive of the game, and that would be a harbinger of things to come.
Garoppolo threw another ghastly interception and was awful when pressured. The Seahawks' defense struggled to pressure him early on, but he couldn't make them pay. When they brought pressure in the second half, Garoppolo struggled to beat it.
Before re-aggravating his ankle injury, Garoppolo was 11-for-16 for 84 yards and an interception.
Was the ankle bothering him the whole game? It's impossible to know how much of an issue it has been over the past few weeks. I don't think the injury is the main issue.
The issue is and has always been Garoppolo's limitations as a quarterback. It's OK to say he was good last year when protected and he can win a lot of games when surrounded by top-tier talent.
When things aren't so rosy, though, can he rescue you? That's what the 49ers needed to figure out this season.
Nothing is as simple as a Week 8 stinker. The protection has been an issue all year for the 49ers. When they've held up, Garoppolo has been OK and when they haven't he's been bad. He was missing one of his top weapons Sunday, but Deebo Samuel's absence shouldn't have been that big of an issue.
The truth is, and always has been, that Garoppolo is just average. Garoppolo can't beat teams with his legs and he's good for at least one awful turnover a game. He's very much in the same category as Jared Goff. He can win a lot of games when the game plan comes together. If defenses can muddy the middle of the field, bring quick pressure and force him to his second or third read then he is relatively ineffective.
The 49ers have some important contract decisions coming up and can move on from Garoppolo with little penalty after the season. Would a quarterback on a rookie deal be more attractive than paying Garoppolo $25.5 million next season? Perhaps.
Garoppolo's limitations were out in the open Sunday. He should have ripped the Seahawks apart like every other quarterback -- from Matt Ryan to Kyler Murray -- has this season.
He didn't. He couldn't. He was abysmal, plain and simple. When the 49ers needed him most, he put up a stinker.
Now, decision time looms for the 49ers.
