With the 49ers heading into a bye with all the momentum anyone could ask for, you may have forgotten that it was this time last year many said the season was over with. It was Week 3 where quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo tore his ACL.
Man, what a difference a year makes right? The 49ers were about to make a ball game against the Kansas City Chiefs of all things. Next thing you know, here goes Jimmy G, bolting up the sidelines just to get creamed for not stepping out of bounds.
I don’t know about you, but I thought he was concussed. It wasn’t until we saw him on the cart I looked at my friend and said “Oh [site-decorum].” Just check the comments on this thread to see Niners Nation melt down into utter chaos. It starts with the very. first. comment.
To be honest, it was a perfect fire. If Jerick McKinnon tearing his ACL didn’t indicate the 49ers were in for a rough season, nothing else could have. Then again, even with foreshadowing, I doubt anyone could have predicted Garoppolo would tear his ACL, much less in Week 3. The 49ers were also media darlings in the NFL last year and that injury sunk the ship. They were quickly flexed out of both Sunday Night Football contests once it was apparent they were no longer entertaining and the 49ers went from wildcard hopefuls back to NFC West bottom-feeders. The best quote came from Jed York a month or two later, when, after being given a game ball following the sudden passing of his brother Tony, said “This hasn’t been the easiest year for any of us, has to be the understatement of the year.”
It’s funny though, I look at the defense the 49ers have now and wonder if that defense was backing up C.J. Beathard and later Nick Mullens last year, the 49ers win more games. A lot of the 49ers’ struggles weren’t at quarterback, they were with a defense that couldn’t finish. Check that box in 2019.
Regardless, losing Jimmy Garoppolo still hurt, as I said then, “Dammit, we lost our Jimmy G!” It made Week 3 become Friday the 13th, where I hoped during the Pittsburgh Steelers game nothing near catastrophic happened. To make sure, I bought several boxes of Lucky Charms cereal to keep bad spirits away.
Yes, we lost Ahkello Witherspoon and Joe Staley for stretches of time, but the 49ers haven’t gone to dial-a-injured reserve like last year. At least not yet.
There’s definitely a much better mood around these parts. Regardless if the 49ers were 3-0 or not, it’s because their quarterback has stayed upright.
2018 was weird, man. Now back to your regularly scheduled blog.