Jimmy Garoppolo leads 49ers to fourth straight win in beating Jaguars

The San Francisco 49ers are on a roll, and right now it seems like only the end of the season can stop it. The 49ers won their fourth straight game to improve to 5-10, beating the Jacksonville Jaguars 44-33. It was a wild one, with an exchange of leads, a furious Jaguars attempted comeback, but all capped with yet another 49ers win.

If you were wondering what the 49ers might do against a great defense, we saw a heck of a display in this one. Jimmy Garoppolo did not continue his trend of higher and higher passing yardage totals, but it didn’t matter. He threw for 242 yards and two touchdowns. He threw an end zone interception during a tenuous stretch of the game, but the 49ers regrouped and dominated the second half.

The 49ers were leading 10-0 when Dontae Johnson grabbed a deflected pass and took it to the house for a pick-six. The 49ers led 16-0, but we saw a sudden change of momentum. Robbie Gould’s extra point attempt was blocked, and run back for a two-point conversion to cut the lead to 16-2. The Jaguars’ offense found life while the 49ers offense slowed to a crawl. The game went into the half tied at 16.

The Jaguars took a field goal lead early in the third quarter, but then the 49ers ran off 21 unanswered points with two Garoppolo touchdown passes (to George Kittle and Trent Taylor) and a Carlos Hyde rushing touchdown. It seemed like the game was iced, but the Jaguars suddenly put together a furious comeback. They scored 14 points in the span of two minutes, helped by a recovered onside kick. They cut the 49ers lead to 37-33, but a missed extra point and a failure on the ensuing onside kick just about did it. The 49ers put the icing on the cake when Matt Breida scampered 30 yards on 3rd and 8.

Up next: Los Angeles Rams (11-4)

The Rams beat the Tennessee Titans, which allowed them to clinch the NFC West. The Rams are tied with the New Orleans Saints and Carolina Panthers at 11-4. They are a game back of the Minnesota Vikings, and a game and a half back of the Philadelphia Eagles. They lose tiebreakers to both, so next week they are playing for the third or fourth seed. It is entirely possible they decide to rest some of their starters, which will impact assessment of that game. But hey, the 49ers are rolling right now!