Perhaps the most notable statistic from Jimmy Garoppolo’s performance against the Chargers on Sunday Night Football won’t show up in a traditional box score. Garoppolo on Sunday tied his career-high in throwaways with three according to Pro Football Focus.
In an otherwise unspectacular night where he completed 18-of-29 throws for 240 yards with no touchdowns, Garoppolo also took just one sack and didn’t throw an interception. Several factors play into the lack of sacks and turnovers, but throwing the ball away plays a key role, and it’s not something the 49ers’ QB does often.
Going into Sunday night he’d been credited with only one throwaway in the 2022 season. His three against the Chargers tied a career high he’d done two other times. The first time he did it was in Week 16 of the 2017 season in his fourth start with San Francisco. He did it again last year in a Week 14 overtime win at Cincinnati.
The reason throwaways matter for Garoppolo is his penchant to hold the ball too long, then force a throw into traffic or take a bad sack. A throwaway is better than a sack or interception, and taking the incompletion and living to fight another down is an underrated skill.
Bigger than the stat in a vacuum is Garoppolo’s decision-making, which has been very good over the last few weeks. It could’ve swung a six-point 49ers win had he turned it over or taken another bad sack against the Chargers. Throwaways go down as incompletions, which aren’t great, but they can certainly be better than the alternative. If Garoppolo continues his strong run of decision-making, the 49ers offense should continue building heading into the playoff push.
