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In the early 2010s, the rivalry between the Seattle Seahawks and the San Francisco 49ers was becoming one of the must watch games in the NFL. Memorable incidents — like the Richard Sherman interview with Erin Andrews — highlighted what many thought was going to be the next huge bi-annual matchup. However, since December 2013, the Seahawks have dominated by winning nine straight games.
To fix that, the 49ers cleaned house this summer and hired Kyle Shanahan as their head coach and John Lynch as their general manager. In a surprise move midseason, they traded for New England Patriots’ backup quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo. This past Sunday he made his first official start, facing the Chicago Bears; he completed 26 of his 37 passes gaining 293 yards. He also threw an interception. For this quick video breakdown, I broke down his interception and the trends that I saw throughout the game. Based on my film study, this pick is not Garoppolo’s fault. Louis Murphy should have done a better job of fighting for the ball, while Kyle Fuller made an incredible strip to pull it free.
While this video explains the interception, Garoppolo also did a good job moving the ball down the field all game. His stats don’t do him justice as I was extremely impressed with what I saw on tape. In my opinion, Garoppolo is one of many good steps the 49ers have made to revitalize their team. With some young defensive talent in DeForest Buckner, Eric Reid, Solomon Thomas, and Reuben Foster, San Francisco looks like they can rebound in the next couple of years. Even though this is not a good thing for the Seahawks, it is a good thing for the NFL and fans to watch some future games between these two teams.