If there's one thing the 49ers are sick of, it's those doubting their quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo. The narrative is loud in Miami before Super Bowl LIV: Garoppolo is a game manager while Kansas City Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes is a superstar.
Mahomes has thrown the ball 70 times for 615 yards in the Chiefs' two playoff wins. Jimmy G has been Mahomes' polar opposite in the postseason. He only has 27 pass attempts for 208 yards in San Francisco's two victories.
Despite what has been said about Garoppolo, though, New Orleans Saints defensive end Cam Jordan wants to remind everyone that Garoppolo can take over a game. Jordan would know.
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Garoppolo led a last-minute drive to beat the Saints, 48-46, in New Orleans on Dec. 8. He outplayed future Hall of Famer Drew Brees by passing for 349 yards and four touchdowns. It was a statement game in one of the rowdiest environments in all of the NFL.
"He did things that we weren't aware of at the time," Jordan said Wednesday on ESPN's "Get Up." "Nobody said, 'Oh, Jimmy G is going to tear this defense up' until he played us, and then it was like, 'Hey, he has potential to tear defenses up.' "
While the Chiefs have recorded eight sacks in the playoffs, second only to the 49ers and Seattle Seahawks, they are allowing 279 yards passing per game. They also have given up four passing TDs with no interceptions.
Jordan believes Garoppolo has the weapons around him to have a big game Sunday, too.
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"You look at what [Garoppolo] has on offense, you look at Kittle, you look at the whole running back core ... you talk about everything they bring in in Emmanuel Sanders and the addition he's created. They have a lot of weapons," Jordan said.
[RELATED: Kurt Warner sees key similarity between Jimmy G, Mahomes]
In Garoppolo's last nine regular-season games, he averaged 276.6 yards passing with 18 touchdowns and six interceptions. When coach Kyle Shanahan needs him, Jimmy G can let it fly.
Jordan would know.
Programming note: NBC Sports Bay Area feeds your hunger for 49ers Super Bowl coverage with special editions of “49ers Central” all week (8 p.m. Wednesday, 8:30 p.m. Thursday, 9:30 p.m. Friday, and 3 p.m. Saturday).
Also tune in at 1 p.m. on Super Bowl Sunday for a two-hour special of "49ers Pregame Live" with Laura Britt, Donte Whitner, Jeff Garcia, Ian Williams, Kelli Johnson, Greg Papa and Grant Liffmann. That same crew will have all the postgame reaction on "49ers Postgame Live," starting immediately after the game.
