San Francisco 49ers: 5 Season-defining moments that led to Super Bowl 54

Week 9 at AZ: Garoppolo ‘Feels Great, Baby’

Leading up to Thursday Night Football on Halloween, the 49ers were 7-0. Their defense and run game had proven to be one of the best in the NFL. Yet, many were not sold on Jimmy Garoppolo as a franchise quarterback and there was a widespread belief that he could not lead this team far in the postseason.

Up to this point, Jimmy G passed for under 200 yards in more than half of his games and had thrown a total of nine touchdowns to seven interceptions. The narrative ensued: “Could Garoppolo carry the team on his shoulders?”

This matchup, though, was not set to be a prove-it game for Garoppolo. The 49ers were 10-point favorites coming into this contest and the over/under was set at 43 points. This game was intended to be like most the 49ers have played this season. It should have been a low scoring affair, won on the back of terrific defense and steady run game. Against an Arizona Cardinals team that had not been able to stop anyone, it should’ve been a cakewalk.

That narrative turned out to be far from the truth. The Cardinals were selling out to stop the run and forcing the 49ers to throw the ball against them. While the San Francisco defense had held Kyler Murray and the Cardinals offense in check for most of the game, they had not been as stifling as we had seen. If the 49ers were to stay undefeated, they would need Jimmy G to win it for them.

Garoppolo did just that, passing for 317 yards and four touchdowns on 37 attempts, which were all season-highs up to this point. After Arizona pulled to within three points in the final few minutes, Garoppolo converted two third-down-and-longs to seal the victory for San Francisco. This was the first time since 2017 that fans were able to see the San Francisco quarterback win a game on his back. There was now confidence that, if things went wrong in the playoffs, Jimmy G could right the ship.