Padecky: One pass might have determined Garoppolo’s future

One pass, that’s Jimmy Garoppolo’s albatross. One pass. That’s it. Garoppolo makes that pass and last Friday doesn’t happen, the 49ers don’t mortgage their future.

Never has so much been decided so quickly. In just 7 seconds. Instant oatmeal takes longer to decide its fate. At least the oatmeal is digestible. This overthrow, this always will be hard to swallow for 49er fans.

The 49ers were on the cusp of beating the great and mighty Kansas City Chiefs in Super 54. The Chiefs would become the Team of the ’10s just like the 49ers were the Team of ’80s. It was just a matter of time. This Super Bowl would be the Chiefs’ debut.

Kansas City was leading 24-20, but Garoppolo was driving. Niner fans were channeling their Joe Montana and Steve Young memories. This moment had all the wrappings for another 49er quarterback Super Bowl hero.

The ball was on the Kansas City 49. It was third down, 10 yards to go. There was 1:40 left in the game.

Garoppolo had thrown two straight incompletions. No worries. Niner quarterbacks love drama. Time to go big or go home.

And big the 49ers went.

No dump-off 10-yarder for the first. Garoppolo went deep. Figured. That was the smart play. Why?

During the 2019 season Garoppolo had the highest completion percentage rate of any NFL quarterback of throws 20 or more yards. Garoppolo completed 61 percent. Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes was second at 51 percent.

Niner wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders ran a post and gained a step on Chiefs rookie defensive back Rashad Fenton.

Sanders was open. Not wide open like he could stop and make a sandwich. Open just enough for a Hall of Fame throw.

The pass landed five yards ahead of Sanders.

“That would have been a legendary moment for me and Jimmy,” Sanders told NBC Sports Bay Area.

“Instead of walking into airports and scores of people saying ‘Great catch man, you’re a legend,’ now they’re saying ’Aw, man, you were so close.’ Hopefully I don’t go down as ‘This close.’ “I don’t know if it’s a situation I’ll ever get over.”

Clearly the 49ers didn’t.

Joe makes that pass. So does Steve. Probably even Jeff Garcia. For a frame of reference Jim Druckenmiller would probably have thrown it into the stands and hit the popcorn guy. Garoppolo didn’t drop that far off the radar but he certainly left the 49ers’ circle of trust — that when the going gets tough, we can’t depend on you. Garoppolo went 2-for-9 in that fourth quarter.

All of that would have been forgotten if Garoppolo hits Sanders. As John Madden said, “Winning is a great deodorant.”

Of course, the Chiefs did score a touchdown after getting the ball back with 93 ticks left on the clock but playing with a lead is quite different than trying to win it.

Either way it wouldn’t have mattered. Garoppolo had done his part. That touchdown pass would have bought him some time for people to tolerate his missing 23 of 48 games with injury.

Instead the 49ers have been forced to play the lottery and, how ironic this is, the team they want to copy, it’s Kansas City.

In 2017 the Chiefs traded two first-rounders and a third-rounder to draft up.

But it was only to get the 10th overall pick. Usually when you throw that much gold on the table, it’s for either the first or second player, the can’t-miss-guy.

The Chiefs took a lot of heat to get this kid from Texas Tech, whose name was scribbled in the margins on everyone’s draft board. Can’t miss? More like can’t understand. Kid named Mahomes.

That’s the mojo the 49ers want. That’s also the exception the 49ers want.

Because if they dig any deeper than Mahomes, it will frighten them to know how slim their chances of getting a franchise quarterback by trading up in the draft.

The 49ers could start right at the bottom. In the 1998 draft the Chargers surrendered six players — including two first-rounders — to draft up and get Ryan Leaf. Imagine turning a corner and getting hit by a water buffalo. That would feel better than watching Leaf turn into a dumpster fire.

Truth to tell, when teams give up multiple draft picks to trade up for a franchise quarterback, management afterward would be best served by blaming it on a malfunctioning Ouija board.

Consider the list.

Sam Darnold, Jared Goff, Robert Griffin III, Mitch Trubisky, Carson Wentz and Tim Tebow all were first-rounders acquired in the draft by a team trading at least three players to get them. Goff, Wentz and Trubisky are not with the teams that drafted them. Darnold is expected to be traded.

Tebow is out of football, starting 16 games in three seasons for two teams.

That said, the 49ers have no choice. The NFL is filled with quarterbacks on their way to the Hall of Fame or at least to the Pro Bowl. The NFL never had this much talent at the position: Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, Ben Roethlisberger, Russell Wilson, Josh Allen, Justin Herbert, Kyler Murray, Baker Mayfield, Lamar Jackson and Mahomes. The position always has been valued but the game once was thought to be best played with balance. A Ray Lewis or a Lawrence Taylor could and should command as much respect and importance as the guy who handles the snap.

How quaint. Not anymore. Points need to be scored. Excitement needs to increase. Can’t turn into somnolent baseball. The NFL now is a passing drill. That’s why all those hand cannons out there.

Thanks Trent Dilfer and those — gasp! — 1,502 passing yards you had in 2000 leading the Ravens to the Super Bowl. Thank you for your service. Your skills are no longer required.

And thank you Jimmy Garopollo for everything except those 7 seconds. Seven seconds, that’s barely enough time to say you’re sorry. Or goodbye.

To comment write to bobpadecky@ gmail.com.