Mullens, defense rule as 49ers crush Giants
San Francisco completes 2-week sweep of New York teams for stellar East Coast trip
Sorry, 49ers, but there are no more New York football teams to stay and beat atMetLife Stadium’s field of screams.
The injury- ravaged San Francisco 49ers completed a NewYork sweepwith Sunday’s 36-9 rout of the winless New York Giants, a week after topping the New York Jets.
“Our team kind of expected this. We had a lot of confidence coming in,” coach Kyle Shanahan said.
Top billing could go to a 49ers defense that rallied after last game’s season- ending knee injuries to Nick Bosa and Solomon Thomas.
Offensively, however, Nick Mullens equally dominated
in place of an injured Jimmy Garoppolo towinhis first start since 2018. Mullens passed for 343 yards in a turnoverfree, punt-free effort, looking smooth running Kyle Shanahan’s scheme and completing passes to 10 different receivers.
Just like that, the 49ers offense scored over 30 points for a second straight game and did so without its top quarterback (Jimmy Garoppolo; ankle), tight end (George Kittle; knee), wide receiver (Deebo Samuel;
foot) and running backs ( Raheem Mostert, knee; Tevin Coleman, knee).
So concludes a 10- day road trip, complete with a stay last week at The Greenbrier Resort in West Virginia to ease their travel. The 49ers play their next three at Levi’s Stadium, starting Sunday night against the Philadelphia Eagles before hosting the Miami Dolphins (Oct. 11) and Los Angeles Rams (Oct. 18; 5:20 p.m.)
Here are the highs, lows and all you need to know about theirWeek 3 effort: MULLENS MANIA » Career win No. 4 was his first on the road. Mullens was as aggressive as anticipated, using this opportunity to showcase his knowledge of the system, his improved mechanics and his feisty leadership. He finished 25of-36 with one touchdown pass and a 108.9 passer rating.
“He doesn’t hesitate. When he sees it, he lets it rip,” Shanahan said.
He mixed clutch throws with a couple risky ones that nearly got intercepted. Mullens received stout protection, aside from two sacks, the first of which came on the opening drive by unblocked blitzing linebacker Blake Martinez. The 363 yards were Mullens’ second-most, behind a 414-yard effort in a 2018 loss at Seattle.
“Nick was great, very poised,” Shanahan said. “We went on a lot of long drives today.… Long drives can get exhausting, especially for me; I don’t want to call so many plays.”
Shanahan noted how Mullens kept his composure as penalties threatened to stall drives. They had four possession last at least 10 plays.
THE AIYUK DRIVE » Brandon Aiyuk scored his first career touchdown on a 19yard, third- quarter run, capping a drive that he earlier highlighted with his first three receptions of the day (19, 6, 3 yards). Aiyuk scored easily behind blocks from Kyle Juszczyk, Mike McGlinchey and Ben Garland, among others. DUAL-THREAT DUO » Jerick McKinnon and Jeff Wilson Jr. combined for three touchdowns and excelled in place of Mostert and Coleman.
McKinnon has scored a touchdown in each game this season, and his 10yard run put the 49ers’ ahead 13- 6 with 1:07 until halftime. McKinnon had just 10 yards on seven carries before an 11-yard run and then his 10-yarder to the left pylon, which Mullens replaced like last week in what’s become a fun-towatch ritual.
McKinnon’s backup, Jeff Wilson Jr., scored on a 19yard catch-and-run to push the 49ers’ lead to 29-9with 13:28 remaining. Wilson capped the scoring with a 2-yard touchdown run.
Wilson had 12 carries for 15 yards, and three receptions for 54 yards en route to his third career twotouchdown game. McKinnon also finished with more yards receiving (39) than rushing (38), and he came out after a 1-yard loss early in the fourth quarter.
Needing
defensive heroics to offset the 49ers’ injurywave, linebacker Fred Warner came through with a timely interception 55 seconds before halftime at the Giants’ 32-yard line. Warner read Daniel Jones’ eyes and jumped the route to the 49ers another scoring chance before halftime.
“We talked about it all week long, that concept, and I’ve got to shout out (Jaquiski) Tart because he was alerting it to me before the snap, ‘Hawk Pass! Hawk Pass!’ ” Warner said. “It played outperfect where I read the quarterback’s eyes and baited him to throw it.”
That was one of three takeaways by the 49ers’ defense that limited the Giants to 231 yards and never allowed them in the red zone.
REED INJURED » Tight end Jordan Reed did not play in the second half after injuring his left ankle and knee, and Shanahan does not think they are longterm issues.
Reed initially got hurt attempting a touchdown catch in the back of the end zone, on the 49ers’ second possession. His health became more suspect in the second quarter, when his left knee got evaluated on the bench by the 49ers’ medical staff.
Reed caught just 2 of 6 targets, those catches going for 12 and 11 yards on the same drive he got injured. Reed had two touchdowns last week while starting in place of Kittle.