Chapter 1425: Chapter 1424: Inescapable Fate
The 2019 season has come to a close, with the fifty-fourth Super Bowl about to kick off.
The Kansas City Chiefs are a mature team, stable, strong, and excellent, despite facing numerous difficulties and challenges such as the physical test and injury issues after a long season, the mental pressure of a perfect season and standing before historical records, and various curses; but the team’s overall structure is already solid, with a higher bottom line, and a resilient and tough spirit, absolutely a tough nut to crack.
In other words, expecting the Kansas City Chiefs to collapse on the Super Bowl stage is unrealistic.
Just like the Super Bowl showdowns of the 2007 and 2011 seasons, the New England Patriots played excellently, but the suspense of victory was still in the hands of the New York Giants. If they brought an all-or-nothing attitude, they could turn the tide; otherwise, the New England Patriots were undoubtedly the favorites.
It is the same now.
The suspense and final outcome of the Super Bowl depend on the performance of the challenger, the San Francisco 49ers, and even the excitement of the game depends on it, otherwise, the game might completely fall apart.
Just like last year’s Super Bowl, the Los Angeles Rams underperformed, failing to create suspense or form a confrontation, quickly losing the match.
This year, the San Francisco 49ers are in a similar position, especially Garoppolo.
From Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Foles to Los Angeles Rams quarterback Goff, the quarterback’s performance determined the excitement of the Super Bowls in the past two years; while the Kansas City Chiefs remained persistent, fighting to the end, whether facing the Philadelphia Eagles’ last-minute kill or resolving the game against the Los Angeles Rams, this team indeed grew and transformed steadily every year, and now the pressure is on Garoppolo.
Since the end of the National Conference finals, criticism and accusations have been unceasingly directed at Garoppolo, even escalating, continuously occupying the top of hot search lists—
Eight attempts throughout the game, which seems unimaginable no matter how you look at it, even in a 1019 football game.
"Why not replace the starting quarterback, anyway Shanahan doesn’t trust Garoppolo."
"Is Garoppolo going to take it easy on the field again? Please don’t, otherwise I might as well just go to sleep."
"Bold prediction: On the Super Bowl stage, Garoppolo will attempt eighty passes, leaving the running backs with no room and silencing all critics collectively."
Buzzing, bustling, with all sorts of sarcastic remarks and memes, constantly filling the view.
Remarkably, the spotlight was not on Li Wei, but completely focused on Garoppolo.
Then, Garoppolo had no choice but to respond—
Even before the Super Bowl media day, accepting interviews at the San Francisco 49ers’ training base, he directly addressed the questions.
"No, I’m not worried."
Garoppolo stated thus, showing the demeanor of a leader, acknowledging that he was aware of the backlash he would face for his offensive performance with only eight passing attempts during the National Conference finals.
"That’s what I learned from Richard Sherman, that I shouldn’t let those voices distract me, but should turn them into motivation."
In his time with the Seattle Seahawks, Sherman was nicknamed "Big Mouth," loving to speak passionately both on and off the field, constantly in the storm center because of his sharp personality, even leading visual Sherman’s idol "King of Trash-Talking" Ramsey to say he didn’t want to be like Sherman, making exaggerated statements on the field.
Sherman has always been in the eye of the storm, now having calmed down after the peak of his career, with obvious restraint as he enters the latter part of his professional journey.
This time, it seems Sherman gave Garoppolo quite some help.
"I heard all the comments, but you can’t refute them one by one. You have to do what you want to do and accept things as they are, because no matter what others say, you still have to face the game yourself."
"I’m ready."
"Ready to face the best team in the league right now, ready to challenge the two-time defending champions, I know what kind of team I’m facing, a giant, a colossal opponent; and at the same time, I know my goal, we’re not here to compete for the runner-up."
Calm, natural, yet not hiding his edge.
After a season of polish, Garoppolo is indeed growing.
Then a reporter asked, "Did your agent Donald Yee teach you these words?"
Garoppolo: ...
Completely caught off guard, after circling around, some words were inevitably mentioned, and the "Triangle of Destiny" centered around Donald was once again brought up, regardless of Garoppolo’s performance good or bad, the media always find a way to draw him into the topic storm of Brady or Li Wei.
This is fate.
Garoppolo felt a block in his chest, not knowing how to respond, ended up chuckling in frustration—
Even with such a perfect performance, the reporter still found a loophole?
Fortunately, the entire San Francisco 49ers team stood behind Garoppolo, expressing support in action, jointly fighting against the "evil" media.
From head coach Shanahan to tight end Kittel to defensive tackle Nick Bosa, top to bottom all pointed out that the team’s focus on the ground game had nothing to do with Garoppolo’s ability, it was purely a strategic decision, they believed this approach could win games, so they did it.
Offensive tackle Joe Staley not only protected Garoppolo’s blindside on the field but also continued to have his back off the field.
"Garoppolo taking all this criticism is just crazy."
"We won the game, we just did what we needed to do to win, which is what professional sports are all about, right? If Garoppolo had thrown for 400 yards and we lost the game, he would feel just as bad. So it’s no big deal."
Lamar Jackson: You may as well just name me?
Shanahan also intercepted the media’s attacks, "In fact, recovering from his ACL tear last season, Garoppolo completed an excellent season, which is why he has the qualification to compete for Comeback Player of the Year."
In this, the head coach was correct, he was not just making a casual remark—
In Garoppolo’s 2019 season, he threw for 3978 yards, the fourth highest in San Francisco 49ers history; his pass completion rate was as high as 69.1%, ranking fifth in the league this season; he had three games where he threw for 300 yards, four touchdowns, and a pass completion rate over 70%, the most in the league this season.
Most importantly, he is the only quarterback in the league with all of pass completion rate, passing yards, and touchdown passes in the top five for the season.
No wonder there was a brief clamor for "Garoppolo regular season MVP" before the regular season ended, although it didn’t last long.
Shanahan said, "If needed, he’s always ready to contribute to the team and lead us to victory. We know the price needed to beat the Kansas City Chiefs, and undoubtedly, Garoppolo is an indispensable piece, with the burden of victory on his shoulders."
So, is Garoppolo the Little Manning of the 2019 season?