All eyes on Jimmy Garoppolo as 49ers visit Chiefs

SANTA CLARA - The 49ers have reached a crisis moment before their season has even begun.

Jimmy Garoppolo does not seem ready to start the regular season opener Sept. 8 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He's recovering from a torn ACL and, while the team says he has recovered physically, he doesn't seem mentally recuperated yet.

Garoppolo looked timid last Monday night against the Denver Broncos. Didn't step into his throws, and dove away from pressure. Threw six passes and the Broncos tipped two of them, intercepted one and almost picked off another.

Garoppolo finished the game with zero passing yards and a quarterback rating of 0.0. When he walked off the field, he looked stunned, a look he had in training camp when he threw 10 interceptions in 15 practices, including five consecutive picks in just one day.

Garoppolo is expected to play the entire first half of the 49ers' preseason “dress rehearsal” game against the Kansas City Chiefs on Saturday. This will be the 49ers' best chance to seriously evaluate Garoppolo and determine if he's ready to start the season opener in Tampa, or if he needs more time.

Here's what to watch for Saturday night when the 49ers play the Chiefs.

1. Garoppolo's confidence

He just endured a week and a half from hell. Just about every football player goes through hell at some point in his career.

“I remember Week 1, 2012 against Green Bay, Clay Matthews whipped my butt,” Joe Staley said in the 49ers locker room. “I gave up three sacks and six pressures. One of the worst games of my life. My nose broke. It still looks terrible. I remember just wanting to be on the practice field to work on what was wrong. I followed up next week with one of the best games of my life. It's the way you readjust your mind and go to work.”

Some players never readjust. Some players crumble. Take quarterback Matt Schaub. Two-time Pro Bowler. Threw for 4,770 yards in 2009. But in 2013, he threw a pick-six in four consecutive games, lost his starting job and never got it back. His career fell apart that fast. He was only 32.

“No matter who you are as a quarterback,” 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan said, “you will go through rough patches and everyone will come down on you whether it's your fault or not. It doesn't matter. You've got to deal with it. That's the challenge of this position. And that's something that Jimmy's been through a little of it, but not as much as a guy in his second contract or a guy that's been around or that people in this league have respect for. He hasn't played a ton. It's going to be how he reacts to that and how we help him.”

Meaning although Garoppolo is one of the NFL's highest-paid players, he remains unproven. He hasn't started more than 10 games. Hasn't faced real pressure. Hasn't come of age as a starting quarterback. Meaning Shanahan has his own doubts about Garoppolo and his ability to react well to his own personal Hell Week.

“You could crumble up and kind of go into a fetal position and surrender, or you could go out and fight,” Garoppolo said. “We've got a locker room full of guys that want to fight, myself included. Every day you have to come in and earn your spot. It's never going to be given to you, so you've got to come earn it.”

Watch how Garoppolo fights for his job against the Chiefs. Does he win the fight?

2. Garoppolo's execution and decision-making

It's understandable for a quarterback to lack confidence following a major injury. It's not understandable for a quarterback to make the same mistakes repeatedly.

Since coming to the 49ers, Garoppolo has been a mistake-repeater. When he faces pressure from the pass rush, he tends to throw off his back foot toward the sideline and get intercepted. He almost never throws the ball away, often the smartest play.

Shanahan recently blamed Garoppolo for the interception he threw against the Broncos. As Garoppolo released the ball, he took a hit from Bradley Chubb, who was unblocked. “The miscommunication on the protections, that starts usually with the quarterback,” Shanahan explained. “Changing the protection, you've got to make sure everyone gets it. Then, when we don't have guys blocked because of miscommunication, don't throw it to their team. Worst-case scenario, you just go down and take a sack.”

Meaning Shanahan was being blunt about Garoppolo. Meaning Garoppolo made two mistakes on that play. He didn't set the protection scheme properly, and he didn't protect the football.

Then there were Garoppolo's two tipped throws. Both times, Garoppolo fired the ball into a defensive lineman's arm that was extended upward before Garoppolo attempted the pass. He saw he had no throwing lane and threw anyway. Twice.

“Those are the little details I was talking about,” Garoppolo said. “Just me getting the protection set, I think it would make everything much easier.”

Watch how Garoppolo handles the little details against the Chiefs.

3. Shanahan's play-calling

Garoppolo didn't perform well against the Broncos and Shanahan didn't set him up for success.

Both statements are true.

Shanahan shares blame for Garoppolo's awful preseason debut, because Shanahan's play-calling was strange and out of character.

Shanahan's first play call was a run for Tevin Coleman, who gained 12 yards. Shanahan's second play call was another run for Coleman, who gained four yards this time. Nothing out of the ordinary yet.

Now, the 49ers faced second and six, and had just gained 16 yards on their past two carries. Shanahan had a perfect opportunity to call a play-action pass, which is the foundation of his offense. A play-action pass is a fake handoff to a running back and then a throw. Shanahan calls play action more than almost any other coach. Play action fools the defense and creates easy, wide-open throws for the quarterback, throws Garoppolo needed to complete to build confidence following a 10-month absence and a five-interception practice in camp.

Shanahan could have called a play-action pass on second and six. But he didn't. He also could have put a running back in the backfield, just so the Broncos defense had some doubt, didn't know before the play if the 49ers were running or passing.

Shanahan didn't do that, either.

Shanahan called an empty formation - no one in the backfield other than the quarterback. Shanahan broadcast to the Broncos that he was calling a pass. That didn't help Garoppolo. It allowed the defense to tee off on him. And this was pressure Shanahan could have reduced by presenting at least the threat of a run.

Shanahan called three empty-formation passes for Garoppolo - one on second and six, one on first and 10 and one on first and 16.

Shanahan never called one play-action pass for the 49ers' starting quarterback. Garoppolo did not handle the empty formations well.

Shanahan certainly knows how to make lifer easier for a quarterback. He's a specialist at making life easy for quarterbacks. Consider the plays he called for backup quarterback C.J. Beathard in the same game. He called four play-action passes for Beathard against the Broncos after Garoppolo left. Made the game easier for Beathard than for Garoppolo.

Watch how Shanahan calls plays and structures offense for Garoppolo against the Chiefs. Does he call a quarterback-friendly game for him, or does he ratchet up the degree of difficulty as he did against the Broncos? This bears watching.