Jimmy Garoppolo Threw a Bunch of Very Short Passes For Many Yards
Jimmy Garoppolo had his best statistical game of the season during the San Francisco 49ers' win over the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday night. Jimmy G had a season-high 268 yards, three touchdown passes and 23 completions. So was the key to the Niners' success letting their star quarterback air it out? Not quite.
Jimmy Garoppolo favored quick, short passes in tonight's win over the Rams, with a significant percentage of his yards coming after the catch.
— Next Gen Stats (@NextGenStats) October 19, 2020
➤ 2.38 seconds (time to throw)
➤ 4.4 air yards/attempt
➤ 226 YAC out of 268 pass yards#LARvsSF | #FTTB pic.twitter.com/K1PtZSmr3c
Six of Garoppolo's 23 completions were thrown to Deebo Samuel and they were all behind the line of scrimmage. This accounted for more than a third of Jimmy G's passing yards.
Kyle Shanahan used shifts and motion to get Deebo Samuel in space tonight.
— Next Gen Stats (@NextGenStats) October 19, 2020
Samuel either shifted or was in motion on all six of his receptions, the most by a player in a game this season.
Samuel gained 97 YAC (most in a game by a WR this season).#LARvsSF | #FTTB pic.twitter.com/RoMHJfjtDl
Pretty crazy, but it worked. Kyle Shanahan deserves a lot of credit for identifying what worked - incredibly short passes that allowed guys like Samuel to do the rest. His quarterback stayed out of trouble and his team won. Not exactly the way you'd expect someone to employ one of the best quarterbacks ever, but results are sometimes more important.