Jimmy Garoppolo is now 18-3 as a starting NFL quarterback. That record is impressive, but not impressive enough for Stephen A. Smith of ESPN, who still refuses to give the San Francisco 49ers quarterback credit.
Smith was presented with the question: Is it time to give Garoppolo some credit?
His answer? An undeniable, at least in his mind, "No!"
Garoppolo was coming off a career game where he threw for 424 yards against the Arizona Cardinals. Against the Packers, the 49ers quarterback recorded a career-high passer rating of 145.8. An NFL passer rating of 158.3, by the way, is considered "perfect."
Still, it wasn't enough to convince Smith, who tried to persuade Max Kellerman and Molly Qerim that Garoppolo has proven nothing other than the fact that he is a good enough quarterback for the 49ers.
What are Smith's criticisms of Garoppolo? The ESPN personality points to the quarterback's 20 touchdowns and 10 interceptions, feeling that Garoppolo is still an unknown with a game on the line.
"My point to you is, at the end of the day, when I look at Jimmy G, Jimmy G's got skills," Smith says. "He's no scrub. I think he's worth the $72 million in guaranteed (money) that he's getting in today's quarterback market, but do I think he's elite yet?"
There's just one problem. Kellerman points out that the question wasn't if Garoppolo is elite. It was if it is time to give him some credit for the 49ers' success this season.
"I said, 'No,'" Smith responded.
As a rebuttal, Kellerman points to the 49ers' games last season without Garoppolo.
"That team fell apart," Kellerman said. "It's one thing to say a guy is 18-3, [...] but for a team that can't buy a win without him? That's not the Patriots without Tom Brady. That's not the Steelers without Ben Roethlisberger, but it is without Jimmy G.
"You can't give him credit after last night?"
"No, not at all," Smith answered.