Why Jimmy Garoppolo Will Easily Pick Apart the Seahawks' Defense
The chance to go 9-0 on the season is well within the San Francisco 49ers' grasp. All they have to do is handle their business against division rival Seattle Seahawks. The two teams, who have combined record of 15-2, will square off in primetime on Monday night football. This is a matchup that should draw the eyes of every football fan.
One of the reasons why is because Jimmy Garoppolo is line for another career day. Garoppolo will easily pick apart the Seahawks' defense on Monday night. That is because their defense is shaky at best. The Seahawks just let Jameis Winston come into their own home turf and carve them up this past Sunday.
Winston is one of the worst quarterbacks in the league when it comes to taking care of the football, yet the Seahawks' defense couldn't manage to pick him off. The reason being is that the Seahawks are horrendous when it comes to rushing the passer. Seattle has the fourth worst disruption rate and sack rate of all defenses in the NFL via ESPN NFL Matchup. They just can't figure out how to pressure the quarterback, let alone sack them.
What seemed like a great trade for Jadeveon Clowney initially, now looks like a bust. The player with the most sacks on the Seahawks is linebacker Mychal Kendricks with three. His sacks derive from dialed up blitzes and is an indicator of how poor the every down pass rushers have been for Seattle. This is going to be an easy outing for the 49ers' offensive line who has performed at such a high-level all season long.
Don't forget that they have been without their starting offensive tackles, which is crazy to think that they are still elite. Garoppolo is surely thankful of the clean pockets he has received since he has seen one of the lowest percentages (26.2%) of drop-backs under pressure among qualifying NFL quarterbacks via Pro Football Focus.
Garoppolo had his best game of his career last week against the Arizona Cardinals with career highs in touchdowns (4) and passer rating (136.9). Imagine what he is going to do with extra days of rest and preparation with the bright lights gleaming at Levi's Stadium. This game has explosion written all over it for Garoppolo.
Now I do expect the 49ers to still go run-heavy since that is the staple of Kyle Shanahan's offense. However, the temptation to let Garoppolo sling it all over the field is too overwhelming. He should have no issue picking apart the Seahawks' defense on Monday night. Going up against a terrible pass rush while dropping back with one of the strongest offensive lines in the league puts him in a perfect position for another career day.
