Seahawks vs 49ers recap: The debut of Jimmy Garoppolo

The San Francisco 49ers seemed to be heading down the same road as much of the season when facing the Seattle Seahawks for the second time. The game was within reach throughout the first half, but then it started to get away from the home team and a dismal ending was in sight. Then the unexpected happened and fans got a little glimpse of what the future might hold. Here’s a recap of the game:

C.J. Beathard takes a beating

Beathard was sacked three times and hit 13 behind a porous line that was trying to accommodate for the absence of Trent Brown who was a game time scratch. Rookie Erik Magnuson and the rest go the offensive line did what Beathard called the “best they could” but it just wasn’t enough. Beathard finished the day 22/38 for 201 yards one interception and a rating of 61.4.

The run game was stifled

Carlos Hyde had 16 attempts for 47 yards giving him an average of 2.9 yards per carry and Matt Breida had one carry for 12 yards. While the Seattle’s defense has been injured, it is not depleted.

New faces on defense

Snap counts come out later today but it was easy to tell early on that the new faces on defense had a lot of playing time. Cassius Marsh, Sheldon Day, Antone Exum Jr. and Dexter McCoil all had significant time on the field after only being with the team a short while.

Not too many injuries

Raheem Mostert left the game after re-injuring his shoulder, but the other injuries in the game didn’t appear as serious. Joe Staley gave everyone a scare going down on the field clutching his left knee but later assured everyone it was only a minimal hyper extension. Marquise Goodwin, who finished the day with four catches for 78 yards injured his foot but did go back into the game after the injury. Beathard’s knee was tweaked late in the game and he reported that the pain went up into his hip but he reported after the game that he didn't think that was any type of tear.

The debut of Jimmy Garoppolo

67 seconds remained in the game and the most surprising thing happened. Beathard, who has remarkably always bounced back up from sacks/hits, remained supine on the field. Several moments later he was still not upright and Garoppolo had begun to warm up. Three plays later, the newest 49ers quarterback had run for four yards, and thrown two completions, one of them a touchdown pass to Louis Murphy as time expired. While head coach Kyle Shanahan wouldn’t commit to Garoppolo starting next week in Chicago, it looks as though it could happen if all the correct planets align. If Beathard’s injury is too serious, Garppolo will obviously start. If not, other factors like Brown’s return could play a factor.

The 49ers head to Chicago for the first of two road games to kick off the month of December. Maybe later this week we will get some kind of indication of who will be the staring quarterback.