Bedard: How did Jimmy Garoppolo actually play, and would a Brady swap make sense?

Now that the NFL has finally posted the GamePass film from Super Bowl LIV, we can better assess a lot of what went on in the game.

When it comes to New England, the pertinent question is, how did Jimmy Garoppolo actually play? Because perception and preconceived notions don't really account for much. The film never lies.

And the answer to that question leads into another Patriots-centric topic: would the 49ers think about signing Tom Brady and releasing Garoppolo in order to put that team over the top? I mean, they did ask Belichick, after being told no initially about a trade for Garoppolo, if Brady was available.

As for Garoppolo in this game ... he was fine for the most part, but there were several questionable decisions that he made throughout the game that will cause Kyle Shanahan to delve further into why those mistakes happened. Did they just come from inexperience and can be overcome ... or is this just part of the player Garoppolo will always be and it might not be good enough?

Let's go into the decisions, and they started on the first drive of the game:

FIRST QUARTER

3RD & 5 AT KC 20(08:07)

Niners drive the field on the first possession and arrive at a key third down in the red zone. Pass is deflected by Mike Pennel (who was really good in this game ... ahem) but George Kittle was double-covered on the play. Emmanuel Sanders was more open on the left sideline. Poor choice by Garoppolo.

THIRD QUARTER

3RD & 5 AT KC 27(10:28)

Garoppolo throws short to Tevin Coleman forcing another field goal, but he had both Kittle in the middle of the field wide open in the zone, and Deebo Samuel for a touchdown deep left if Garoppolo throws him open.

2ND & 8 AT KC 37(04:03): J.Garoppolo pass incomplete deep left to E.Sanders

Kittle is wide buck open in the middle field and could have scored. Kittle is furious after the play.

1ST & 10 AT KC 11(03:21): J.Garoppolo pass short middle to K.Juszczyk to KC 1 for 10 yards (T.Kpassagnon).

They eventually score on this drive, but Kittle is wide open in the end zone if Garoppolo just leads him a little.

FOURTH QUARTER

2ND & 9 AT SF 39(09:52): J.Garoppolo pass incomplete short middle to D.Samuel [A.Hitchens].

Bourne is also open when the flat defender slipped. Garoppolo is hit as he waits and throws high. Bourne shows his frustration.

3RD & 5 AT SF 25(05:23)(Shotgun) J.Garoppolo pass incomplete short right to K.Bourne [B.Niemann].

Kittle is open again but, instead, Garoppolo waits and is hit as he throws incomplete.

2ND & 10 AT KC 49(1:44) (Shotgun) J.Garoppolo pass incomplete short middle to K.Bourne (K.Fuller, C.Jones).

Both two-deep safeties hawking on the double slants. Samuel one-on-one to the left. Even if Garoppolo wants to go to Bourne, it has to be much earlier in the play with more heat on it.

3RD & 10 AT KC 49(01:40) (Shotgun) J.Garoppolo pass incomplete deep middle to E.Sanders [T.Suggs].

Sanders wasn't a terrible decision but Bourne was wide open in the middle of the field underneath the deep route.

4TH & 10 AT KC 49(01:33) (Shotgun) J.Garoppolo sacked at SF 42 for -9 yards (F.Clark).

I fault the conservative three-man route on this play more than anything. Kittle leaks out at the last second but Garoppolo is virtually dead to rights on the rush.

Here are all the plays on video:



WHAT'S THE ISSUE?

Shanahan is going to look at this and start asking himself questions. Does he think this is just natural growing pains for an inexperienced player? Or does Garoppolo have a processing problem? From observing him with the Patriots, the latter can't be ruled out. He sometimes has trouble pulling the trigger and making the correct decisions. Of course, that's comparing him to Brady.

I think it's mostly the former — that Garoppolo will improve with experience, and he'll take some hard lessons from this. Garoppolo is very smart, and he knows enough to know he doesn't know everything. I think he'll be much better from this experience, and it will propel his game to another level. But he has to find a way to get better with his decision-making.

I don't think it was a pressure/lack of clutch play type of thing because it happened throughout the game. He made the same mistakes in the first and third quarters that he did in the fourth when he knew he had to make a play to win the game.

One other factor that many will discount is the role the Chiefs defense and coordinator Steve Spagnuolo played in this. You can't simply say, "Well, Patrick Mahomes made the plays and Jimmy didn't." The two defenses are completely different. The Chiefs knew exactly what they were going to get from the 49ers' Seattle-based defense in certain situations — and that's how they converted on 3rd and 15, not because of Mahomes' brilliance.

Spagnuolo, just like he did to the Patriots and Brady in the Super Bowl, kept spinning the dial with its coverage and rush to the point that Garoppolo clearly didn't know what he was going to get in each situation. They doubled a different player a lot, similar to the Patriots. That two-deep look on the near interception was something they didn't show the rest of the game and it obviously took Garoppolo by surprise. Mahomes and Andy Reid knew the exact type of coverage and in-route adjustments coming for every play call because that defense is so simple. Why do you think all these large fourth-quarter comebacks — Patriots in 49 and 51, Chiefs on Sunday night — all came against the same Seattle-based defense? That's not a coincidence. The offenses figured it out by the fourth quarter.

So give a lot of credit to the Chiefs and to Reid for switching from Bob Sutton to Spagnuolo. But also realize Garoppolo needs to be a lot better. I don't think Brady is the answer in San Francisco. I think more snaps for Garoppolo — and a different, man-based defensive scheme — are the answers.