It’s true that Jimmy Garoppolo wasn’t exactly targeting Jerry Rice and John Taylor with the game on the line Sunday, but here’s the thing: Backups Kendrick Bourne and Trent Taylor did a fair impression of the 49ers’ famed duo.
It was Garoppolo who resembled a second-stringer.
The 49ers quarterback had two poor throws on his final four attempts, and better accuracy on either could have changed the outcome in a 24-20 season-opening loss to the Cardinals.
First, on first down from Arizona’s 21-yard line with 1:21 left, Garoppolo underthrew Bourne, who was open in the end zone after freezing both All-Pro cornerback Patrick Peterson and safety Chris Banjo with a sweet stutter-step at the 10.
“This is on Jimmy Garoppolo,” Fox analyst Chris Spielman said during the replay, “because this is such a beautiful route by Kendrick Bourne.”
Three snaps later, on fourth-and-5, Garoppolo’s tardy and off-target sideline throw toward Taylor, who was briefly open, meant a first down turned into a game-sealing pass breakup for cornerback Byron Murphy Jr.
“I think the route’s fine,” Spielman said. “I think the pass is bad. I mean, the pass is bad because it’s late and it’s behind.”
After Sunday’s game, head coach Kyle Shanahan, without prompting, noted Garoppolo’s pass was behind Taylor when asked about the puny production from his wide receivers. And he acknowledged Garoppolo had to “play better,” although he lumped his QB in with the entire offense.
However, Shanahan took some pains Monday to shield Garoppolo from criticism when asked whether the two throws were simply “bad passes.” Shanahan began by saying Bourne should have jumped in the end zone to create contact and draw a flag on Peterson, who had his back to the ball.
“It would have been nice, I think, if Bourne had gone up for it,” Shanahan said. “I think we would have gotten the (pass interference). So it’s something he’ll learn from that because he did (beat) him.”
And Shanahan said Taylor tweaked his route, which disrupted the rhythm on Garoppolo’s last pass.
“Their timing was a little bit off on it,” Shanahan said. “He did a little extra move at the top and Jimmy hesitated just a little bit and tried to recover with his arm and left it a little bit behind him. We’ve just got to get better there with throwing and catching.”
Still, it was more about the throwing than the catching on both passes. So what did Garoppolo do wrong?
“The ball was underthrown a little bit,” Shanahan said. “Balls are underthrown all the time. You don’t always hit guys perfectly in stride. You underthrow a ball and it makes it not perfect, so a receiver’s got to go make a play and they didn’t. There’s nothing more to it. It’s pretty simple. He underthrew it just a hair on both of them. Guys still had chances, but it would have been a real good play if they make it.”
Shanahan is among a host of offensive-minded coaches who can be hard on their QBs. On Monday, for example, Buccaneers coach Bruce Arians seemed to be publicly prodding Tom Brady when suggesting the QB with six Super Bowl rings wasn’t ready for prime time in a 34-23 loss to the Saints on Sunday.
“He looked like Tom Brady in practice all the time, so it’s kind of unusual to see that in a ballgame,” Arians said. “Because they didn’t do things that we didn’t get ready for.”
Of course, Garoppolo doesn’t have Brady’s resume. And he could be more in need of a back slap than a blistering after an offseason that was heavy on talk of his late-game Super Bowl performance.
Garoppolo’s 2020 season has started like his 2019 season ended: He overthrew a would-be, game-winning touchdown pass to Emmanuel Sanders in Super Bowl LIV before he underthrew Bourne on Sunday.
As with the Super Bowl, Garoppolo’s finish obscured bright spots.
He completed 18 of 29 passes for 254 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions before his last four attempts, good for a 113.3 passer rating. That looks more impressive considering he was playing without two top wideouts — Deebo Samuel and rookie first-round pick Brandon Aiyuk — and All-Pro tight end George Kittle suffered a sprained knee in the second quarter and had a zero-catch second half.
In addition, Garoppolo, who was dropped for three sacks, dealt with sporadic up-the-middle pressure. The 49ers’ interior offensive line included third-string center Hroniss Grasu and right guard Daniel Brunskill, who was making his third career start at the position.
However, Shanahan largely complimented the offense Monday after the 49ers managed 10 points in the final 55 minutes and went 2-for-13 on third and fourth downs in the game.
Shanahan was “happy” with the performance of the offensive line, said the wideouts “did their job,” said Kittle did “a hell of a job” in the second half and said starting running back Raheem Mostert had a “good game.”
That, of course, left Garoppolo, who came up short in the end.
And that meant the best Shanahan could do for him was offer protection, but not praise.
Eric Branch covers the 49ers for The San Francisco Chronicle. Email: [email protected] Twitter: @Eric_Branch
