CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The 49ers' offense got back into a groove in their 37-15 win over the Carolina Panthers at Bank of America Stadium in Week 5, but Jimmy Garoppolo believes the unit still has a lot of work to do.
Garoppolo finished the day completing 18 of his 30 attempts for 253 passing yards and two touchdowns. Seven different players caught passes from the veteran quarterback including tight end George Kittle who was the top target, catching five of his six targets for 47 yards.
“I think we still got room for improvement,” Garoppolo told reporters postgame. “There were some drives where we just killed ourselves. Simple things we can fix, but yeah, it was a good day, we were rolling.”
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The 49ers improved in the area that had plagued them through the first four weeks of the season — their third-down conversion rate. On Sunday, Garoppolo and the offense converted seven of their 12 attempts which gave them their first game of the season with a success rate of over 50 percent.
Running back Tevin Coleman, who was the 49ers' biggest surprise out of the locker room, was not a surprise to Garoppolo. The veteran running back carried the ball eight times for 23 yards and a touchdown and also caught all three of his targets for 44 yards and a receiving score.
Coleman’s sideline catch might have been the most impressive catch of the day. Garoppolo stood in the pocket, under pressure from the Panthers' defensive line and lofted the ball up to the left sideline to his running back. Coleman somehow was able to get both feet down in bounds while in very close coverage.
“I’ve been with Tev in the past, and he’s just Mr. Reliable,” Garoppolo said. “He really is. He’s one of those guys that you know where he’s going to be, you know he’s going to do the right thing, and when you have a guy like that as a quarterback, you can put that ball up and trust him and it’s fun.
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“I didn’t get to see that play, but I hear it was awesome.”
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One player that Garoppolo needs to continue to build chemistry with is wide receiver Deebo Samuel. The quarterback’s first five attempts to the receiver went incomplete. The two eventually did connect and Samuel finished the day with two completions on nine attempts.
While there were a few attempts with Samuel in tight coverage, one dropped pass appeared to show that the fourth-year wide receiver might not have been completely in sync with his quarterback.
The 49ers now will head straight to the Greenbriar in West Virginia where they will spend the week together prior to their Week 6 contest with the Atlanta Falcons. Time together both on and off the field will help them continue to get their rhythm back.