If it feels as though the Los Angeles Rams and San Francisco 49ers play one another about every other week, well yeah, almost.
When these two NFC West rivals square off in this week’s Monday Night Football game, for the Niners it’ll be the third time in their past eight games, going back to Jan. 9, that the Rams are their opponent.
The game, at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, kicks off at 8:15 p.m. EDT and is televised in Canada on both TSN (via regular ESPN feed) and TSN 3 (the MNF with Peyton & Eli version, via ESPN 2).
That this is only Week 4 of the 2022 NFL season, yet this is the third time the Rams and 49ers have played this calendar year, seems bogus. But it’s true.
On Jan. 9, in the 2021 regular-season finale at L.A., the 49ers rallied to force overtime in L.A., then won on a field goal to clinch a wild-card playoff berth.
The Rams got their revenge on their home field three weeks later in the NFC title game, overcoming a 17-7 deficit entering the fourth quarter and scoring 13 points to advance to Super Bowl LVI, which they won in similar comeback fashion.
Jimmy Garoppolo was San Francisco’s quarterback in those games. He sparkled in the first, especially late, but proved embarrassingly futile as the conference championship game wound down. Like, really bad.
The universal belief, in the days following that defeat, was that Garoppolo was done in San Francisco, after five seasons packed with huge highs (two NFC title-game appearances and a near Super Bowl win) and huge lows (so many sidelining injuries and crucial-moment misfires).
Compounding that belief was that San Francisco GM John Lynch and head coach Kyle Shanahan had decided nine months earlier to surrender a boatload of high future picks to draft raw but promising quarterback Trey Lance. As a rookie, Lance had mostly backed up perceived 2021 lame-duck Garoppolo.
But after Jimmy G’s terrible closing quarter against the Rams in the NFC title game, it seemed a done deal — he’d be traded at some point this year to clear the way for Lance.
Didn’t happen.
For two reasons.
First, Garoppolo required surgery on his throwing shoulder. Several teams were looking this past off-season for a new starting QB, but no one was prepared to trade for possibly long-term damaged goods. In August, the 30-year-old recovered and resumed practising with the Niners, as Lance’s backup.
Secondly, word eventually began to leak out of Niners camp that Lance might not yet be ready to start after all — and that the club would be wise to keep Garoppolo, as an insurance policy.
Sure enough, on Aug. 29 the club made Garoppolo the league’s highest-paid backup QB, renegotiating his 2022 salary to be worth a minimum $6.5 million and as much as $16 million depending on playing time.
Garoppolo’s playing-time prospects in 2022 appeared brighter after Lance struggled mightily in a Week 1 loss at offensively impotent Chicago. Then, before the first quarter of the next game vs. Seattle was over, Lance broke his right ankle. Season done, five quarters in.
Garoppolo took over and led the 49ers to a 27-7 win over the Seahawks, but then looked terrible last Sunday night in an 11-10 loss at Denver.
Garoppolo said twice this past week that his arm is not yet fully in game shape, nor in in-season shape — in short, he has a tired arm — simply because he couldn’t throw for most of the off-season, while recovering from shoulder surgery.
“It’s getting better. It’s one of those things,” he said Friday. “It’s tough in the season to replicate things that you would do in the off-season, but I’m just trying to get better each and every day, get it stronger, more endurance to it.
“I’m not trying to make excuses by any means. I have to get the job done, but it’s one of those things you’re dealing with.”
Garoppolo hopes to improve to 4-0 vs. the Rams at Levi’s Stadium, after wins in 2019, 2020 and last year.
John Kryk writes a weekly newsletter on NFL matters. That’s where you can first see his straight-up picks each week. You can have the newsletter automatically dropped into your email inbox on Wednesdays simply by signing up — for free — at https://torontosun.com/newsletters/
Check out our sports section for the latest news and analysis. Care for a wager? Head to our sports betting section for news and odds.
Post a Comment