And Garoppolo also made more than a few errors, too.
Early on, the Niners seemed to be hitting their stride and got out to a 10-0 lead. But Garoppolo lost one of his key weapons, wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders, to a ribs injury. Sanders didn't return. And combined with tight end George Kittle, who was out with knee and ankle injuries, Garoppolo was going to have to engineer other means of moving the ball.
He did, at times, although Garoppolo wasn't helped by a number of key drops during the contest.
"We just had too many self-imposed mistakes," Garoppolo told reporters after the game. "That's what hurt us. When you put yourself behind like that, it's hard to catch up. It's the little things we've got to clean up."
On a night when Seattle's defense held the Niners to a mere 3.2 rush yards per attempt and just 87 yards on the ground in total, Garoppolo was asked to move the ball a lot through the air. In total, Garoppolo went 24-of-46 for 248 yards, a touchdown, and a successful two-point conversion pass against an interception, which deflected off the hands of wide receiver Kendrick Bourne.
Bourne made up for his gaffe with the touchdown and two-point grabs. But the mistake was one many San Francisco made during the prime-time bout.
Additionally, Garoppolo fumbled twice, and both of those resulted in Seattle points. Between the second and third quarters, the Seahawks managed 21 straight points to take what was seen as a pretty commanding lead, especially with the 49ers offense struggling.
"I could throw the ball better and we can catch it better," Garoppolo continued. "It's a little bit of everything. There's not one specific thing that sticks out, but it's a bit of a reality check for us."
Garoppolo and the 49ers will have a short week before they host the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday at Levi's Stadium.
Written By:
Peter Panacy has been writing about the 49ers since 2011 for outlets like Bleacher Report, Niner Noise, 49ers Webzone, and is occasionally heard as a guest on San Francisco's 95.7 FM The Game and the Niners' flagship station, KNBR 680. Feel free to follow him, or direct any inquiries to his Twitter account.
All articles by Peter Panacy
Peter Panacy
Peter Panacy has been writing about the 49ers since 2011 for outlets like Bleacher Report, Niner Noise, 49ers Webzone, and is occasionally heard as a guest on San Francisco's 95.7 FM The Game and the Niners' flagship station, KNBR 680. Feel free to follow him, or direct any inquiries to his Twitter account.
All articles by Peter Panacy
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