49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo technically won two Super Bowls with the New England Patriots. The problem is he played zero snaps in any of the Patriots’ playoff runs during his three full years in their uniform.
Garoppolo will get his first taste of postseason action Saturday when the 49ers host the Minnesota Vikings.
Typically the NFL playoffs come with some additional pressure due to the amplified importance of each game, but 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan on Tuesday told reporters he isn’t concerned about Garoppolo wilting in the moment.
“I felt like last week was a playoff game. That was pretty intense,” Shanahan said of the 49ers’ Week 17 win over Seahawks in Seattle. “Or whenever we played Seattle. I think he’s shown he can handle himself in poise. He’s played some really good games. Just like everybody, hopefully he does it this Saturday, which will be his first playoff game. But, I think Jimmy has played in some pretty big games. Anyone who is around him in those games and talks to him and stuff it’s not much different in those games with him as a preseason game. He stays pretty much the same.”
Garoppolo’s unflappable nature helped him orchestrate four fourth-quarter comebacks and game-winning drives this season.
Perhaps the most notable was the one in New Orleans when Garoppolo found tight end George Kittle on a fourth-and-2 to set up a game-winning field goal.
He also converted a pair of third-and-16s in a must-win Week 16 game over the Rams en route to conducting another game-winning field goal drive.
Even San Francisco’s first game against Seattle, Garoppolo had his club in a position to win late despite the fact he hadn’t played particularly well all game.
Shanahan’s overall point is that we’ve seen Garoppolo perform and perform well in high-leverage situations before. The 49ers’ quarterback was excellent in five games against playoff teams this season, and played perhaps his best game of the year Week 17 in Seattle.
Saturday is the biggest game Garoppolo and most of the 49ers have ever played in, but the quarterback buckling under the weight of January football doesn’t seem likely.