Jimmy Garoppolo outperformed Aaron Rodgers in key area in 49ers' win

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Jimmy Garoppolo out-played Aaron Rodgers on Sunday night at Levi's Stadium. 

Garoppolo completed 14 of 20 passes for 253 yards and two touchdowns in the 49ers' 37-8 blowout win over the Green Bay Packers, while Rodgers turned in one of the worst performances of his career. Rodgers completed 20 of 33 passes for just 104 yards and a touchdown, throwing 30-plus passes for fewer than 125 yards for the first time in his 15-year career. 

During that time, Rodgers has become one of the NFL's greatest quarterbacks of all time in large part because of his deep-ball accuracy. That eluded him Sunday against the 49ers' defense, as Rodgers didn't complete a single pass over 10-plus air yards, according to NFL Next Gen Stats.

Garoppolo beat Rodgers at his own game. The 49ers QB completed each of his attempts over 10-plus air yards, chalking up over 69 percent of his passing output on those six passes.

Excluding sacks, Garoppolo now has thrown for 240-plus yards in each of his last three games, matching his total from the first eight starts of the season. George Kittle's return greatly helped Garoppolo, and the two connected on a 61-yard touchdown in the tight end's first game back from injury. 

[RELATED: Grading 49ers' offense, defense in blowout win vs. Packers]

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Now, the road ahead gets tougher for the 28-year-old signal-caller. The Baltimore Ravens and New Orleans Saints -- the 49ers' next two opponents -- entered Monday in the middle of the pack in passing yards allowed per game, but the Ravens and Saints have allowed the fourth- and 10th-lowest passer ratings, respectively, to opposing quarterbacks. New Orleans is also in the top 10 in sacks (31) as of this writing, while Baltimore has more QB hits (71) in 10 games than San Francisco's pass rush has in 11 (68).

Garoppolo got the best of Rodgers on Sunday, but out-performing Lamar Jackson and Drew Brees over the next two weeks will be a tall order. 

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