Jimmy Garoppolo is transforming 49ers in front of their eyes
HOUSTON — The San Francisco 49ers aren’t happy with where they stand this season.
However, the last few weeks — and the first glimpses at their quarterback of the future — have given them some hope.
Jimmy Garoppolo threw for a career-high 334 yards and a touchdown to help the 49ers to their second straight win, 26-16 over the Houston Texans on Sunday.
The 49ers have won three of their last four after opening the season 0-9 under first-year coach Kyle Shanahan.
“It’s definitely exciting,” Shanahan said. “You can feel it in our building. Guys are gaining that confidence.”
A big part of San Francisco’s recent improvement has been the play of Garoppolo. Tom Brady’s former backup showed he could be the answer for the 49ers at quarterback, going 20-for-33 in his second start for the team. Acquired before the trade deadline from New England, Garoppolo threw for 293 yards in his debut last week to help the 49ers to a 15-14 win at Chicago.
Shanahan said Garoppolo has a knack for making the players around him better.
“When you’ve got a guy like Jimmy who has been making some impressive throws, who’s been doing it on the practice field and he’s carried it to the game, I think guys always know they’ve got a chance,” Shanahan said. “And they’ve lived up to it.”
Shanahan wasn’t alone in his praise.
“Jimmy is a great guy,” wide receiver Marquise Goodwin told reporters. “He’s a leader. He’s natural at it. He doesn’t show [fear] at any point of the game. When you see that in the position that he’s in, it gives you extreme confidence. When you look at him in the third quarter or in the second quarter and we’re down by one or up by one, you feel that sense of hope. You feel that sense of ‘I’m going to get the job done.’ And at no point in the game do I ever feel like we’re behind or we’re slacking in that position, because he’s led us the whole way from start to finish.”
Fullback Kyle Juszczyk said the 49ers feel brand new.
“It definitely just builds the confidence,” he said. “[It] gets everyone excited. I mean, it feels like a whole new season here. It feels like we started last week. Especially, getting a win, we wish we had more games left. We wish we had a full season to do this thing with him.”
Garoppolo, who has started just four games in his four-year NFL career, is excited about the progress he’s seen from the offense in his short time with the team.
“We’ve got a little bit of momentum with us right now and we just need to keep plucking away … and just keep getting better,” he said. “That’s what it’s all about, especially this time of year. We only have three games left now, so we just have to keep getting better and good things will happen.”