Despite the fact that they had competed in the Super Bowl just a couple of seasons before, the San Francisco 49ers decided to make Trey Lance a first-round draft pick, thus giving a warning to Jimmy Garoppolo. Then, after making it to the conference championship game last season, they decided to hand Lance the starting position. So they had already hung the “For Sale” sign on Jimmy G.
And it’s a good thing a deal was never made because who knows what shape the 49ers would be in right now. As it is, now they are relying on the guy who had once been a savior of sorts, and they are going to need him to come through in a big way if they make another playoff run.
On Monday night, the Niners will once again lock horns with their arch-rivals as they play host to the Rams at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara.
In the NFL Monday night odds posted at BetOnline, the Niners are slightly favored:-
San Francisco 49ers -2
Los Angeles Rams +2
Over 42 Points -107
Under 42 Points -113
Last season Jimmy G had a completion percentage of 68%, and he led the league with 12.7 yards per completion. It was only the second time he had been able to start more than six games with the team. He has been a winner for the most part; his current NFL record as a starting quarterback is 33-15, and that basically averages out to an 11-5 season.
Through two games thus far, he is 62% for 7.3 yards per attempt. His QB rating is down from last year (89.2 after 98.7), but two things must be noted: one is that it is early in the schedule. And the other is that he only got two snaps during the pre-season, as other QBs took priority. In six career games against the Rams, Garoppolo has completed 68% of his passes, with nine TD’s and seven INT’s.
Jimmy G’s success depends to a considerable extent on the efficiency of the Niners’ offense in other areas. In other words, they have to be able to exploit the Rams’ defense with their ground game. That becomes more difficult with the absence of Elijah Mitchell, who is sitting out some time with an MCL injury.
So the Niners, who aren’t really operating with an offensive coordinator per se after the departure of Mike McDaniel to Miami, will improvise. And part of that will include Deebo Samuel, who can be a major game-breaker, whether he is in the backfield or split out wide. This will surely be one of the major reasons for the fluctuation of odds in top NFL betting sites.
Of course, there is some impact from the injury to left tackle Trent Williams, who’ll sit out here and will be replaced by Colton McKivitz. Yes, this will be an obstacle for the Niners to overcome.
McKivitz will be under pressure not to let Jimmy G get pressured. Keep an eye on George Kittle, who made his season debut last week against Denver, in a game where the 49ers had a hard time getting started on offense.
This time, we’ll look for the defense to hold down the fort, and because Matthew Stafford has a tendency to throw the ball into enemy hands, we’ll hope that one of the Niners will hold on to one. We’re with the home team.
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