Is Jimmy Garoppolo playing tonight vs the Bears in Week 8?
Expectations for Jimmy Garoppolo and the San Francisco 49ers this season were to be Super Bowl contenders. Head coach Kyle Shanahan has had excuses throughout his tenure for why the 49ers haven't won a Super Bowl.
Injuries have ravaged their roster in 2017, 2018, and 2020.
Despite several injuries to their running back position, the injury bug still hasn't bit the 49ers like in past years. The 49ers have just struggled to play winning football and Jimmy Garoppolo deserves part of the blame as the starting quarterback.
Trey Lance is the backup rookie quarterback, and some fans have been calling for him to start. Shanahan has had a tough decision each week on who to start. He remains committed to Garoppolo when healthy, and Garoppolo is healthy heading into Week 8.
Jimmy Garoppolo will play and start vs. the Bears in Week 8.
Shanahan said this week that Jimmy Garoppolo is the starting quarterback. Lance was on the injury report with a knee injury and practiced in a limited role on Wednesday and Thursday.
Asked if he will start Jimmy Garoppolo vs. the Bears, Kyle Shanahan said: “I would guess so. … We had two QBs hurting this week. Jimmy was able to come back and play. We'll see if Trey [Lance] can next week, we're still not sure yet, but I got a lot of things to figure out.”
Jimmy Garoppolo isn't on the injury report and gets the starting nod as a result. Garoppolo will have to prove himself against the Chicago Bears.
The Bears will be without head coach Matt Nagy due to COVID-19 protocols.
But the Bears' defense will still be a good test for the 49ers' offense. The Bears' defense is far from the dominant unit it was in 2018 and 2019.
They'll also be without star pass rusher Khalil Mack.
But they still have Roquan Smith, Robert Quinn, and Jaylon Johnson to challenge the 49ers. Johnson, in particular, has been a lockdown cornerback in single coverage except for last week's game against Mike Evans.
Jimmy Garoppolo's starting job could be on the line.
Jimmy Garoppolo has played conservatively and ranks near the bottom in intended air yards per pass attempt. His accuracy is worse this year than in his past seasons.
He's completed 64.8 percent of his pass attempts. The only season he's been less accurate was 2018, when he played just three games.
Most intended air yards per attempt:
1. Lamar Jackson - 10.5
t2. Baker Mayfield - 9.4
t2. Josh Allen - 9.4
4. Matthew Stafford - 9.2
Fewest:
1. Jared Goff - 6.1
2. Matt Ryan - 6.7
3. Kirk Cousins - 6.8
4. Jimmy Garoppolo - 6.9
In addition to playing conservatively, Garoppolo has struggled due to his wide receivers not producing enough. Deebo Samuel is doing all he can to carry the offense with 648 yards.
George Kittle has been on injured reserve since Week 5.
Kittle's absence stings as he's the 49ers' most dynamic skill-position player. Kyle Juszczyk is the next leading receiver after Samuel and Kittle, and he's their fullback.
Brandon Aiyuk has been in Shanahan's dog house all season.
Garoppolo is auditioning for his job and perhaps others as the 49ers starter going forward for the rest of the season. If he fails, we could see Lance in the lineup next week and for the rest of the season.
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