San Francisco 49ers: 4 Winners, 3 losers from Preseason Week 2 vs. Broncos

The San Francisco 49ers won in Jimmy Garoppolo’s 2019 preseason debut but it certainly wasn’t the quarterback’s doing. Winners and losers vs. the Broncos.

The first Monday Night Football game of 2019 was supposed to be must-watch for the San Francisco 49ers. That’s because quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo was making his return to the field. After an offseason of hype last year, Jimmy G suffered a torn ACL in Week 3 of the regular season and the Niners fell into the cellar as a result.

Thus, Garoppolo making his return on Monday night against the Denver Broncos in Week 2 of the 2019 preseason was a big deal. Unfortunately, any excitement that fans had was tempered immediately as the quarterback threw an interception on the first drive of the game. Even worse, he didn’t get any better when he came onto the field later in the first quarter.

Even with Jimmy G’s struggles, though, Kyle Shanahan’s teams submitted a strong defensive performance from start to finish, save for a few miscues that are to be expected in preseason contests. Furthermore, the backups on offense came up big in the second half, scoring three touchdowns over the final two quarters to pick up the 24-15 win.

With Garoppolo back in the fold for the 2019 season, big things are expected of the San Francisco 49ers this season. They showed signs on Monday night against the Broncos that they have the pieces to be that type of team and really surprise some people when the regular season gets underway.

Having that in mind, let’s take a look at the whole picture — the good and the bad — from Week 2 of the preseason by highlighting four winners and three losers for the 49ers from their victory over the Broncos.