MAKING A STATEMENT Questions followed the San Francisco 49ers in 2019 They started the season red-hot but were they really that good And Jimmy Garoppolo was playing well but was he really a star quarterback The player and the team both had a chance to prove it The Niners faced the New Orleans Saints in Week 14 The teams had identical 10 2 records Whoever won would have the best chance at earning home-field advantage in the National Football Conference NFC playoffs Jimmy Garoppolo was in command against the Saints in 2019 5 1
Garoppolo had a huge game He threw for 349 yards and four touchdowns He matched legendary Saints quarterback Drew Brees in the shootout The teams traded huge plays all day Brees’s fifth touchdown pass gave the Saints a 46 45 lead with one minute to go The 49ers tried to fight back With 39 seconds left they were on their own 33-yard line It was fourth down In tough situations great quarterbacks look for their best playmaker For Garoppolo that was tight end George Kittle On fourth down Garoppolo hit Kittle with a STRONG PARTNERSHIP George Kittle was Garoppolo’s favorite target in 2019 He was the only 49ers receiver to be targeted 100 times Kittle caught 85 of those passes for 1,053 yards and five touchdowns The two are also great friends After the 49ers clinched a trip to the Super Bowl Kittle wore a t-shirt with Garoppolo’s picture at a postgame press conference 6
Garoppolo and Drew Brees left chat after the shootout in the Superdome perfect pass Then Kittle kept going He took the ball deep into Saints territory The 49ers kicked a field goal to win the game At 11 2 they had the best record in the NFC Garoppolo was named the NFC Offensive Player of the Week There weren’t many questions left about Garoppolo However one big one remained how far could he take the 49ers 7
