SANTA CLARA – Jimmy Garoppolo is feeling so comfortable in the 49ers’ Kyle Shanahan-fashioned offense, he’s starting to call his own plays. On the opening offensive play of the game, the speaker in Garoppolo’s helmet went out completely. It forced Garoppolo to call a play on his own to start the game.
It wound up being a 4-yard run to running back Carlos Hyde, which was one of his longest runs of the game.
“First play of the game, Jimmy’s helmet…his radio went out,” center Daniel Kilgore said. “We had to trust in Jimmy of just calling a play off the top of his head. … We ran it, and I think we got 4 yards out of it.”
Garoppolo was not only comfortable on the field making plays up on his own, he was also confident off the field in constantly talking to his teammates.
Fullback Kyle Juszczyk said that towards the end of the game, Garoppolo was telling his teammates on the sidelines to stay “locked in” if the 49ers got the ball back. They did and Garoppolo guided them into position for the game-winning field goal.