Analyzing Jimmy Garoppolo's Biggest Mistakes Against Cincinnati

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Jimmy Garoppolo won the game and was clutch at the end, and that's what we remember.
But he didn't play particularly well before that final drive, and was one of the main reasons the 49ers didn't put the Bengals away early despite the Bengals fumbling all over the place in the first half. That's why ESPN gave him a QBR of just 39.4 for the game (50 is average).
Here are all the plays Garoppolo left on the field:
1. 9:25 1st Quarter, 3rd and 5 at SF 37.
Garoppolo floats a pass across the field to the sideline and nearly get intercepted by Chidobe Awuzie, who gets both hands on the ball but drops it.
2. 7:49 1st Quarter, 3rd and 4 at CIN 17.
The Bengals blitz, and Garoppolo hesitates instead of throwing immediately to his hot receiver, Deebo Samuel, who's open right in front of him running a crossing route. Instead, Garoppolo holds the ball too long, which causes Trent Williams to commit a holding penalty.
3. 1:16 2nd Quarter, 3rd and 15 at SF 21.
Travis Benjamin is open deep for a touchdown but Garoppolo doesn't have enough arm strength to make the throw, so Benjamin has to stop and wait for the ball, and it gets knocked away.
4. 0:30 2nd Quarter, 3rd and 7 at CIN 28.
Garoppolo stares down George Kittle and doesn't see Deebo Samuel running wide open into the end zone. Then Garoppolo feels pressure and throws the ball away.
5. 7:55 3rd Quarter, 3rd and Goal at the CIN 6.
Garoppolo doesn't throw to a wide open Kyle Juszczyk at the goal line. Instead, Garoppolo scrambles to his right and throws back across his body to Juszczyk, who's covered at this point, and the pass is incomplete.
6. 14:15 4th Quarter, 1st and 10 at SF 47.
Brandon Aiyuk is open running deep crossing route and Garoppolo attempts to throw him the ball, but drops it first and has to fall on it. This kills the drive.
7. 7:36 4th Quarter, 2nd and 9 at SF 40.
Deebo Samuel runs a post route and is open for a touchdown, but Garoppolo doesn't see him. Instead Garoppolo stares down Kittle, who's double covered, and fires an incomplete pass over his head.
8. 2:58 4th Quarter, 3rd and 10 at SF 29.
Garoppolo checks down to Kittle instead of throwing to Samuel, who's open farther downfield. Samuel would have picked up the first down. Kittle gained only eight yards, and the 49ers had to punt.
9. 0:24 4th Quarter, 2nd and 10 at CIN 48.
Garoppolo nearly throws a game-losing pick six to Bengals safety Jesse Bates, but he drops the ball.
Watch the full breakdown below.

Grant Cohn has covered the San Francisco 49ers daily since 2011. He spent the first nine years of his career with the Santa Rosa Press Democrat where he wrote the Inside the 49ers blog and covered famous coaches and athletes such as Jim Harbaugh, Colin Kaepernick and Patrick Willis. In 2012, Inside the 49ers won Sports Blog of the Year from the Peninsula Press Club. In 2020, Cohn joined FanNation and began writing All49ers. In addition, he created a YouTube channel which has become the go-to place on YouTube to consume 49ers content. Cohn's channel typically generates roughly 3.5 million viewers per month, while the 49ers' official YouTube channel generates roughly 1.5 million viewers per month. Cohn live streams almost every day and posts videos hourly during the football season. Cohn is committed to asking the questions that 49ers fans want answered, and providing the most honest and interactive coverage in the country. His loyalty is to the reader and the viewer, not the team or any player or coach. Cohn is a new-age multimedia journalist with an old-school mentality, because his father is Lowell Cohn, the legendary sports columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle from 1979 to 1993. The two have a live podcast every Tuesday. Grant Cohn grew up in Oakland and studied English Literature at UCLA from 2006 to 2010. He currently lives in Oakland with his wife.
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