A week after Jimmy Garoppolo saved the 49ers, the 49ers saved Jimmy Garoppolo.
When Dak Prescott made his ill-fated 17-yard scramble to the 49ers’ 24-yard line and time expired, the 49ers had held on for a 23-17 wild-card playoff win Sunday over the Dallas Cowboys at AT&T Stadium.
It was a game the 49ers had under control, or so it appeared, with a 23-7 lead with 5:50 left in the third quarter and the Cowboys getting buried against a physical opponent combined with the weight of their own mistakes.
A 26-yard cutback run by Deebo Samuel had given the 49ers a 16-point lead and television shots later found Dallas fans actually in tears in anticipation of an inevitable defeat. The play was set up by an interception by K’waun Williams on a pass intended for Cedrick Wilson.
It was within Garoppolo’s power to put the Cowboys out of their misery. Instead, he extended an invitation for Dallas to rejoin the game with three big mistakes that could have doomed the 49ers.
“It was an emotional game, the highs and lows of it,” Garoppolo said. “I never felt like it was getting away from us. I always felt we were in control of the game. I guess we made for some good TV again.”
It’s fair to say Garoppolo may have been the only man on the 49ers sideline who wasn’t concerned.
After the Samuel touchdown, with the 49ers facing third-and-10 at their own 24-yard line, Brandon Aiyuk left Trevon Diggs in the dust and broke wide open down the left sideline.
If Garoppolo sticks the pass, it would have put the 49ers right back in scoring position with 2:31 to play in the quarter. He missed it. By a lot. Flashbacks to the missed post to Emmanuel Sanders in Super Bowl LIV against Kansas City were impossible to avoid.
Dallas drove 37 yards in 11 plays for a 51-yard field goal by Greg Zuerlein to get within 23-10.
The next mistake could have been his farewell to the franchise assuming Trey Lance takes over as expected next season. On second-and-10 from the 44, Garoppolo rolled right, spotted Trent Sherfield and instead threw it into the waiting arms of cornerback Anthony Brown.
Brown gratefully accepted the gift and returned it 23 yards to the 49ers’ 28-yard line. Dallas was officially back in it.
“The interception just got away from me, shot it high,” Garoppolo said. “To B.A., another tough one. Those are the ones you’ve just got to hit. Those are the easy layup ones you’ve got to make.”
.@nino9brown with the MOMENTUM SHIFT! 😤
📺: #SFvsDAL on @CBSSports pic.twitter.com/2wPCjb3Rbm
— Dallas Cowboys (@dallascowboys) January 17, 2022
Five plays later, Prescott scrambled 5 yards for a touchdown on third-and-goal and the Cowboys were within 23-17. There were still eight minutes to play, and if Shanahan’s mind wasn’t flashing back to a 28-3 lead over the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LI while offensive coordinator of the Atlanta Falcons, it should have been.
There was one more big Garoppolo mistake, and it had nothing to do with a forward pass.
With 1:21 to play on third-and-10, Samuel raced around right end for 10 yards and an apparent first down. On replay, the ball was re-spotted just inches short of a first down at the Dallas 38-yard line for fourth-and-1.
Everyone knew what was next. Garoppolo was 11-for-11 converting quarterback sneaks this season and 25-for-25 in his career.
The 49ers had Trent Williams shift sides on a silent count, and Garoppolo tapped Alex Mack for the snap before Williams had come set. False start. Fourth-and-inches turned into fourth-and-6, and Mitch Wishnowsky punted the ball back to the Cowboys.
The mistake, being mental rather than physical, seemed to bother Shanahan more than the missed throws.
“We shifted to an unbalanced line with a silent count and it was a quarterback sneak all the way,” Shanahan said. “Jimmy got excited and didn’t let Trent get set up. He’s got to let him get set. I was going to struggle to answer that question if we lost.”
When told what Shanahan said, Garoppolo smiled.
“Kyle said that?,” Garoppolo said. “That’s pretty much what happened.”
The 49ers defense, even after losing Nick Bosa to a concussion in the first half and Fred Warner to an ankle injury in the second half, held a potent Dallas offense in check. Samuel was his usual self, the offensive line blocked well and Elijah Mitchell had 27 carries for 96 yards.
At quarterback, it was a tale of two Jimmys. The first half was precise, mistake-free Jimmy, completing 11 of 14 passes for 133 yards. The second half was Bad Jimmy. In his most important half of football all season, Garoppolo was 5 of 11 for 39 yards and an interception. It was in stark contrast to the Week 18 win over the Rams that put the 49ers in the playoffs in that Garoppolo had a bad start but was clutch in the second half.
“It was a long game, and I thought he played real good football in the first half, thought he made some good plays in the second half too,” Shanahan said. “Obviously that pick he’d like to have back and the one missed third down.”
If it weren’t for Prescott’s decision to scramble on the last play, the Cowboys could have put themselves in position for Garoppolo to end up with a reputation-smearing flameout.
Instead, Jimmy G takes the 49ers to Lambeau Field, where all he’s got to do is beat Aaron Rodgers.
