Jimmy Garoppolo returned to Gillette Stadium for his first game Sunday since being traded to San Francisco in 2017.
The Niners QB helped lead a 33-6 walloping of his former club.
"It was a cool week," Garoppolo said, via ESPN. "Just a lot of emotions, a lot of memories. Especially coming back here, seeing the same stadium, hearing the same songs they used to play, a lot of memories came back ... But it was a fun night.
"Couldn't imagine it going any better than this."
Jimmy G finished 20-of-25 passing for 277 yards on 11.1 yards per attempt with two INTs. The 49ers' rushing game went off, gobbling up 197 total yards on 37 totes with four rushing scores. The defense also discombobulated the Patriots, forcing four interceptions (three from Cam Newton, one from Jarrett Stidham).
New England suffered its worst home loss of the Bill Belichick era (since 2000) in terms of margin of defeat (-27). A 31-0 loss on the road against the Bills in Week 1, 2003, is the only larger margin of defeat for Belichick as Patriots head coach. Coincidentally, both of those blowout losses came against former Pats QBs. Sunday, Garoppolo got his former team. In 2003, it was Drew Bledsoe.
Garoppolo was focused on getting a W, not the margin of the victory.
"It really was never in my mind," Garoppolo said. "I obviously wanted to come here and get a win. To me it didn't matter if we won by 1 or 100. It was go and get the win. That was the mindset we had this week. Same mindset we had last week. Just got to keep that mindset the rest of the season."
After a Week 5 blowout loss to Miami in which Garoppolo was benched, the 49ers have bounced back with back-to-back impressive wins over the Los Angeles Rams and on the road in New England despite dealing with a stockpile of injuries. The wins keep the Niners in the thick of the playoff hunt at 4-3, even as they're at the bottom of a tough NFC West.
With their next three games against Seattle, Green Bay and New Orleans, Jimmy G and the Niners have no time to rest on their recent laurels.
