He was only in the game for just over a minute but has already become the second coming of Joe Montana.
UPDATE: It was announced on Tuesday that Garoppolo would indeed be starting Week 13 against the Chicago Bears.
Jimmy Garoppolo is the future for Kyle Shanahan and the San Francisco 49ers. The future, if Week 12 is any indication, appears to be now.
Late in the Niners 24-13 loss to the Seahawks, C.J. Betheard went down with an injury that forced him from the game. At the time it was 24-6 and there was just over a minute left to go. Garoppolo is the reason the game ended with the score that it did, because he led the Niners to a touchdown in two plays.
His final stat line was 2-for-2 and a touchdown, all in just over 60-seconds. That basically makes him the second-coming of Joe Montana.
And just like that, a legend is born. We’re witnessing history here, folks. Embrace it.
Betheard appears to have been injured badly enough that it’ll raise questions about if he can start in Week 13. Even if he’s healthy, it appears that the future is now for the Niners and Garoppolo. The season is lost and there were already questions about whether or not there’s anything to lose by starting Garoppolo now.
There’s nothing to lose, and the Niners getting what amounts to five bonus weeks to work Garoppolo into the offense is a dream scenario. At 1-9, expectations are nonexistent for the Niners which means Garoppolo and Shanahan have the sandbox to themselves build whatever they want.
This also affords the Niners a chance to audition the Jimmy G era to potential free agents. San Francisco has $115 million in cap space to spend next offseason if the cap goes up, which it probably will.
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At some point, the Garoppolo era was going to start. Sooner rather than later is the best thing for everyone involved.