Garoppolo Debuts in 49ers Loss to Seattle

Week 12 - Coming off their BYE week and playing host to the rival (6-4) Seahawks in damp and windy Santa Clara, the (1-9) 49ers would get their first glimpse of their expected quarterback of the future in Jimmy Garoppolo as starter C.J. Beathard would fall to injury late. Looking to avoid their ninth straight loss to Seattle entering Sunday, San Francisco had hopes of taking advantage of a banged up Seattle secondary missing both Cam Chancellor and Richard Sherman due to injury. Factor in some poor weather along with the plethora of injuries from both sides and you'd get an ugly first two quarters of football as both teams failed to get much of anything going in a sloppy first half which featured 11 punts combined.

After receiving a gift thanks to the elements as 49ers kicker Bradley Pinion's opening kickoff blew out of bounds setting Seattle up at the 40-yard line, QB Russell Wilson would get picked off on the very first play of the game for the first time in his career as Eric Reid came up with the early interception. Sadly, San Francisco would fail to do anything with it as Seattle forced a three and out. Showing promise on their following possession, Seahawks kicker Blair Walsh who had missed a 52-yard field goal in Seattle's Monday night loss to the Falcons which would have sent the game into overtime, failed to convert on a 48-yard try. With a scoreless first quarter in the books, 49ers QB C.J. Beathard would have his pass intended for receiver Trent Taylor intercepted as linebacker Bobby Wagner out-wrestled Taylor for the ball to set his team up inside the red zone. Wilson would trot into the end zone untouched just two plays later as Seattle struck first to take a 7-0 lead. Despite the touchdown, Wilson who entered Sunday's game among the top 3 in the NFL in percentage of teams offense (1st), passing yards (2nd), and touchdown passes (3rd), had a rather pedestrian first half as the San Francisco defense held him to only 80 yards passing. However, the 49er offense wouldn't have a whole lot to cheer about in the first half either as they managed to get on the board via a Robbie Gould field goal just before halftime, cutting the deficit to four.

Trailing 7-3 entering the second half, the 49ers would settle for a second field goal to pull within a point, but that's as close as they would get as Wilson and company answered with touchdowns on each of Seattle's first two second half possessions. The second of which coming on a touchdown pass to tight-end Jimmy Graham on the first play of the fourth quarter, allowing Wilson to accomplish a milestone that only three others had achieved before him. Joining Dan Marino, Peyton Manning and Matt Ryan as the only four quarterbacks in NFL history to throw for 150 TD's in their first six seasons. He would later add another accolade to his resume as he eclipsed the 3,000 passing yards mark to become one of just four players to log 3,000+ passing yards in each of his first six seasons, something only Cam Newton, Andy Dalton and Peyton Manning had done before him. Having suffered from a poor offensive-line virtually all season long, the Niner defense was unable to record a single sack on Wilson all afternoon as head coach Pete Carroll's fifth different o-line combo of the season paid dividends for their Pro Bowl quarterback. This after allowing three QB sacks to the San Francisco defense in their previous match-up.

After being held out of the end zone by the Seattle defense in their Week 2 meeting, the 49ers would avoid a repeat performance in the rematch as they managed to score a garbage time touchdown when the recently acquired Jimmy Garoppolo made his Niner debut while filling in for an injured C.J. Beathard. Trailing 24-6 with under 3:30 remaining in the fourth quarter, Beathard marched the San Francisco offense inside the red zone to the 18-yard line before being shaken up by a hit from Seahawks defensive-end Micheal Bennett, as the rookie QB was attended to on the field before heading to the sideline with just over a minute to play. With wins in his only two career starts, both as a member of the Patriots, Garoppolo looked good in the handful of plays he saw. After a 5-yard scramble on his first play under center and facing 4th down with 5 yards to go, Garoppolo connected with receiver Aldrick Robinson to move the chains. He would find Louis Murphy in the end zone one play later as time expired, giving San Francisco their one and only highlight of the afternoon as he finished 2 for 2 with 18 yards and a touchdown as the 49ers fell 24-13. 49ers running back Carlos Hyde who remains the only active player in the league to rush for over 100-yards against Seattle in their own home, was held in check for the most part on Sunday, finishing with a game-high 47-yards rushing on 16 carries.

Week 13 Preview - For San Francisco who was hoping to keep Garoppolo off the field this season in preparation for a clean slate and fresh start come 2018, the highly coveted QB who was acquired from New England at the trade deadline for a 2018 2nd round pick and is expected to be Kyle Shanahan's quarterback of the future, may see more action this season than originally planned depending on how quickly he adjusts to Shanahan's system and whether or not Beathard is healthy enough to return. But one thing that is certain is that Garoppolo will get the green light to start in Week 13 as the team prepares to head to the windy city to take on the 3-8 Chicago Bears. Last in the NFC North, the Bears have lost four straight behind the struggles of rookie QB Mitch Trubisky who Chicago traded up one spot to get from the 49ers in this year's Draft and are coming off a 31-3 shellacking of the Philadelphia Eagles. Held to only 140 net yards in their loss to Philly, the Bears figure to be one of the more favorable opponents for the 49ers as they eye their second win of the season and first on the road under coach Kyle Shanahan. 


Follow me on Twitter: @FraserKnowsBest