SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- As the San Francisco 49ers' offense lined up for a red zone play in the fourth quarter of Sunday's victory against the Jacksonville Jaguars, the chants began to ring out.
"M-V-P, M-V-P, M-V-P," the 49ers faithful began shouting in the general direction of quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo.
It was a moment of pure joy that goes against all fan etiquette when your team is in the red zone, but in this case, nobody could do anything but smile and laugh considering the misery of recent 49ers seasons.
This was a chance to bask in the enthusiasm of a fourth consecutive win with Garoppolo at the controls and fifth in six games in a season that started 0-9. That chant, for as ill-timed as it might have been, was as much a tacit acknowledgement of the San Francisco fans' excitement for the future as it was about what was happening in the moment. Go ahead, try to find a five-win team that has created more buzz and excitement over the season's final month.
Because after the Niners' 44-33 win against AFC South division champion Jacksonville, there's a genuine belief in the Bay Area in this idea: With Garoppolo at quarterback for the Niners (5-10) now and in the future, all things are once again possible.
"Jimmy is playing great football for us at the quarterback position," Niners left tackle Joe Staley said. "It is probably the most important position in team sports. He is doing a terrific job out there. He raises all ships up there, and everybody is playing really good football right now. We have a close locker room. I am really proud to be a part of it. It is pretty special here.”
After each of Garoppolo's first three starts with the team, cynical observers pointed to the opponent and wondered when Garoppolo would prove himself against a true playoff contender. A narrow win against Chicago wasn't enough. Neither was the victory the following week against Houston. Even in Week 15, beating Tennessee -- a team in the mix for an AFC wild card last week -- in dramatic fashion wasn't enough to make some believe in the Garoppolo effect.
But even the most pessimistic of 49ers fans are now running low on ammunition after Garoppolo and the Niners knocked off a Jacksonville team that boasts a potentially record-setting defense and that San Francisco coach Kyle Shanahan last week called a legitimate Super Bowl contender.
The overriding takeaway of Sunday's victory is that the Garoppolo effect is real.
While the numbers weren't as overwhelming as they've been in recent weeks -- Garoppolo finished 21-of-30 for 242 yards with two touchdowns and an interception for a passer rating of 102.4, to go with a rushing score -- it didn't really matter. Garoppolo got the Niners off to a 16-0 lead against a dominant Jacksonville defense that had been allowing only 169 passing yards per game. He threw for 187 yards in the first half alone. His total passing yards were the third most that the Jaguars (10-5) had allowed this season.
Garoppolo and the Niners' offense were so efficient in the early going that Jaguars defenders were spotted on the sideline arguing and shoving each other. With the victory, Garoppolo won his sixth consecutive start to open his career (dating to his stint with the New England Patriots), tying him with Mike Kruczek, Marc Bulger and Kurt Warner for fourth-most all time to begin a career. Along the way, Garoppolo passed Warner for most passing yards by a quarterback in his first four starts with a team.
“That was the biggest challenge for him and the biggest challenge for our offense," Shanahan said. "I think it was neat for him to get to see. We had to run more of our offense. We had to mix in a lot of keepers and things, bootlegs, just to slow them down, whether we were effective or not. Their linebackers are so fast and their D-line. You just have to keep them off balance and do some things. I thought he did a lot more stuff today that I don’t think he’s done a ton of his career. He’ll continue to do better with it as it goes, but it was pretty neat just to be able to do that stuff and him see how it all ties together and the way it helped our team throughout the game.”
Indeed, the Garoppolo effect didn't stop with quarterback play. His presence has raised the play of all of those around him. That was evident again Sunday, as fullback Kyle Juszczyk set a career high for receiving yards in a game (76) for the second time in three weeks. Garoppolo got rookie tight end George Kittle and rookie receiver Trent Taylor into the end zone again, and the quarterback helped rookie running back Matt Breida to a career day that included his game-clinching, 30-yard touchdown run. The offensive line also had another strong day, keeping Jacksonville's ferocious pass rush to one sack and five quarterback hits.
The trickle-down effect of that offensive output was another mostly strong showing by the defense. The Niners intercepted Blake Bortles, who entered Sunday's game as one of the hottest quarterbacks in the league, three times, including one that was returned for a touchdown, with the other two also setting up scores.
And a 49ers run defense that a year ago was the worst in the NFL has continued its improvement, as it no longer has to spend long periods of time on the field. Jacksonville's vaunted rushing attack was limited to 92 yards on 28 carries, a meager 3.3-yard average.
Giving all of the credit for those things to Garoppolo is overstating it, but it's not saying too much that he at least has had a hand in all of them. That's what a good signal-caller can do in this quarterback-driven league.
"I always felt like we could have won a bunch of games," running back Carlos Hyde said. "It’s just that we were losing these close games, but since Jimmy G got here, things have been a lot different. Things have been feeling really good around here, it’s been a good vibe; and that energy that’s flowing in the locker room is really good, and guys are feeding off of that and guys are ready to play."
It's far too late and the sample size far too small for Garoppolo to be in any real conversation among the league's MVP candidates. It's not, however, too soon for 49ers fans to begin imagining the possibilities for next year and beyond. After all, with Garoppolo at quarterback, this once-moribund franchise and its fans have a whole new outlook.