Over the last five weeks, the San Francisco 49ers have fallen apart. Each of the four-straight losses has seemed to erode the confidence the 49ers had entering the season, when they were viewed as contenders.
But as mistakes continue to be made a prolific level and with Kyle Shanahan admitting after Sunday’s 30-18 lost that he’s not in a play-calling rhythm, whatever this trajectory is, is not sustainable.
Joe Staley criticized Jimmy Garoppolo after the loss, saying he’s always been reliant on pieces around him to be successful.
“When it’s good, it’s when everything else is working and he has weapons around him and he’s able to deliver the balls,” Staley said. “And then when it’s bad, it’s because of third-down conversions and it’s what he’s doing.”
Staley joined KNBR on Monday to discuss the loss, saying that there’s a major concern with the 49ers’ leadership in the locker room, and that Jimmy Garoppolo has failed to produce.
“A quarterback is judged based off of third downs — and situational football — when everybody in the building knows that he has to pass the football, the quarterback has to throw it,” Staley said. “Can you consistently convert?”
“… The third-down conversion rate for the Niners has been absolutely atrocious and it doesn’t seem like they have any answers for that currently. I think the stats like six for their last 36 or something like that in the last three games. And if you’re not converting third downs — and yes, it goes to the receivers getting open — but largely, it’s the quarterback understanding where to go, how to manipulate defenses with their eyes and right now, Jimmy’s not getting the job done.”
Staley has indicated that it may be time to consider starting Trey Lance when he returns from his knee sprain, and that the notion of a two-QB system is challenging for offensive linemen to deal with.
“I just know that from an offensive lineman’s perspective, and myself, I would much rather have one guy consistently out there the whole entire game knowing what we’re getting, the game plan very specific to his strengths and weaknesses and kind of go in there with more of an idea instead of just throwing things up there and being ready for whatever.”
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