49ers QB Jimmy Garoppolo expects difficult challenge facing Jaguars' Josh Allen, defense Sunday

After watching game tapes of the Jaguars, San Francisco 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo said he could not help but notice a particular defender that seemed like he was always around the ball. 

That player was Jaguars outside linebacker Josh Allen, and Garoppolo regards him highly going into Sunday's game at TIAA Bank Field. 

"He's a hell of a player, man," Garoppolo said. "He really is. They've got a lot of speed on that defense from sideline to sideline, but just Josh, he's impressive. You saw he did in the Buffalo game and did it against the Colts too. So, it'll be a challenge for us." 

Allen has combined for 10 tackles in the past two games and leads the Jaguars with 5.5 sacks. He had 2.5 sacks in eight games last season. 

The 49ers considered drafting Josh Allen with the second overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft but selected Nick Bosa instead. Allen went seventh overall by the Jaguars.  

''He (Allen) fit because when we were up there trying to look for pass rushers, and we felt pretty strong about the two top ones in the draft with him and the guy we ended up getting [DL] Nick [Bosa],'' 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan said.  ''We were real high on Josh, but we were a little higher on Nick.”

Bosa has 17 career sacks compared to Allen's 18.5. Bosa suffered a torn ACL last season and played in just two games.

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Not overlooking Jags

Shanahan expects his players to carry over the urgency and not overlook the Jaguars on a short week after playing Monday night against the Los Angeles Rams.

''It’s pretty easy when you start watching the tape not to overlook them,'' Shanahan said. ''You talk as a coach, you read the numbers, but when you watch the tape, they’ll see, as they’ve seen today, this morning that they’re a good team and they’re getting a lot better.''

''I don’t think that people let down after something like that, but you’ve got to realize the emotions that go into a Monday night game is a little bit bigger where we were coming from with how bad we had played before that, so the emotions were high.''

Few meetings between Jags, 49ers

The San Francisco 49ers lead the all-time series against the Jaguars 3-2, including winning the last three games. San Francisco has not played Jacksonville since 2017 when they won 44-33 at Levi Stadium.

The Jaguars won the first two games in the series, 41-3 in 1999 and 10-9 in 2005 as both games were played in Jacksonville.

Better on road than home 

The 49ers have proven to perform better on the road than at home. They have won three of four road games but have fared 1-4  at home with their first victory of the season at Levi Stadium this past Monday against the Rams 31-10. 

Top tight end 

Tight end George Kittle has the second-most receiving yardage (3,957) among tight ends since 2017. Kittle only trails Kansas City's Travis Kelce, who has 5,766 yards. After nine games this season, Kittle ranks fifth in the NFL with 202 yards after the catch and 11th with 378 receiving yards. Kittle's 30 catches ranks 15th. 

Third-down stops

The 49ers defense are holding opponents to a 38.4% third-down conversation rate that ranks 12th in the NFL. San Francisco is also holding opponents to 208.7 yards passing average per game, which is the sixth lowest in the league. The Jaguars rank last in the NFL in third-down conversion percentage (32.28%). 

By the numbers

San Francisco's 79.2% red zone touchdown percentage, the highest in the NFL. 6:49: 49ers average yards per play on first down, the highest in the league. 107: plays San Francisco has allowed that have gone for 10 or more, the third fewest in the NFL. 3-0: 49ers' record when leading at halftime.