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SANTA CLARA — Jimmy Garoppolo blushed. Maybe.
He was informed he matched a feat previously accomplished by only Joe Montana and Steve Young, and such company should stun any 49ers quarterback in their Hall of Fame wake.
Like them, Garoppolo passed for over 400 yards and four touchdowns in a game, doing so in Sunday’s 36-26 comeback win over Arizona in which his fourth touchdown pass capped a 424-yard performance.
On the second question of his postgame press conference, Garoppolo got blindsided by a reporter, hitting him with the Montana-Young-And-Now-You factoid.
“Any time you’re in a sentence with those two names, it’s always an honor,” Garoppolo said. “ut I’ve got a long way to go to catch up to those two. They did some great things around here.”
Montana did at least 400 yards and four TDs in three wins (1985 at Atlanta, ’89 at Philadelphia, ’90 at Atlanta) and Young did it in 1993 at the Los Angeles Rams.
This was Garoppolo’s fourth fourth-quarter comeback in 15 wins with the 49ers (in 18 starts).
It was far from flawless, thanks to a pair of red-zone interceptions.
What ultimately counted was a fantastic finish, which Garoppolo provided with a 25-yard touchdown pass to Jeff Wilson Jr. with 31 seconds to spare for the go-ahead points. Garoppolo celebrated by jumping into right tackle Mike McGlinchey’s arms.
“I would have hugged anyone who was next to me,” Garoppolo said. “The stadium was on fire today. The fans were going nuts. The energy in that stadium is contagious.”
So is Garoppolo’s leadership.
“Jimmy’s confidence never wavers. It’s been that all year,” fullback Kyle Juszczyk said. “Any time he’s made a mistake, there’s no let-up in him. Everybody has all the confidence in the world in him, and he always just does a good job showing that confidence.”
Did McGlinchy say anything to pick up Garoppolo’s spirits after a late pass to Ross Dwelley got tipped and intercepted at the Cardinals’ 7 with 4:32 remaining?
“Absolutely not,” McGlinchey said. “Jimmy could say whatever he wants about our protection half the time, so if you think I’m going to say anything to our quarterback about throwing a pick, you’re crazy.
“You don’t need to say anything to Jimmy. He knows. He knows it’s OK. It was a couple tipped balls that wound up in their hands. That’s the way the ball falls sometimes.”
By the way, Montana had 26 fourth-quarter comeback wins, plus five in the playoffs; Young had 13, plus one in the playoffs; and, Garoppolo has one other, in his first career start for the New England Patriots.
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