The 49ers didn’t rush quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo into the starting lineup after the late October trade that sent him from New England to Santa Clara and his first start proved to be worth the wait.
Garoppolo couldn’t get the 49ers into the end zone, but he moved the team into position for five field goals in a 15-14 road win over the Bears. The last of them came as time expired at the tail end of a drive that started with 5:37 to play on the 49ers’ 7-yard-line and coach Kyle Shanahan said he enjoyed watching Garoppolo work in those circumstances.
“I thought it was a good first start,” Shanahan said. “He handled the offense well. He definitely moved the chains. It’ll be fun to go back and watch the tape. ... For his first time doing it, especially without being here [all season], it was pretty impressive. It was fun to watch him do some real good things, and it was fun to watch him lead us to a win.”
The team will obviously need to get into the end zone to keep winning games and there’s room for improvement across the board, but you could do a lot worse when it comes to encouraging starts than the one Garoppolo provided on Sunday.