Full of talent, inexperience
Incomparable skills, expected rawness seen in Lance’s 2nd start
On Trey Lance’s second pass Sunday, the 49ers’ rookie quarterback faked a handoff to running back Elijah Mitchell, rolled to his right and had fullback Kyle Juszczyk wide open around the line of scrimmage.
However, Lance didn’t set his feet and short-armed the looping pass, which Juszczyk bobbled after stopping to bend and catch it around his ankles. Lance’s inaccuracy turned a potential big gain into a 3-yard completion in the 49ers’ 23-7 win over the Texans.
The pass was part of Lance’s uneven opening in his first start at Levi’s Stadium. And it was reminiscent of his first regular-season pass at Levi’s: In Week 4, after replacing injured starter Jimmy Garoppolo in a loss to Seattle, Lance’s opening attempt nosedived a few yards short of George Kittle after Lance rolled right and had his tight end all alone around the line of scrimmage.
Another similarity between those two games: Lance, 21, rebounded in each and began making throws few NFL QBs can deliver after struggling with tosses you and I could complete.
His passer rating against the Seahawks: 117.1.
His passer rating against the Texans: 116.0.
Yes, on Sunday, as he did against Seattle, Lance threw two late-game touchdowns to cap a performance that showcased both his inexperience and elite ability.
Lance, for example, rarely went through multiple progressions before targeting a pass catcher on his 23 attempts, which is common for young QBs whose ability to process defenses is developing.
In addition, he threw two near-picks when a cornerback and linebacker read his eyes. Finally, he stared down Kittle on his second-quarter interception down the left sideline, failing to see wide receiver Deebo Samuel streaking wide open, futilely waving his right hand, deep on the right side.
But on those snaps when Lance took a three-step drop, immediately located an open target, rocked and fired? Whoa. And: Holy smokes.
Lance said he finally settled in on the 49ers’ final drive of the first half. And that fieldgoal march began with two bazooka-armed completions. First, he whistled a 17-yard completion to Samuel on a
slant. Two snaps later, Lance whipped a 27-yard dart to wideout Brandon Aiyuk.
And Lance kept cooking after halftime. Perhaps his best pass was his first attempt of the third quarter: He fit an instride, 3rd-and-6 throw to Aiyuk between two defenders, leading to a 43-yard reception.
On that play, linebacker Christian Kirksey — patrolling the middle of the field — read Lance’s eyes and broke toward Aiyuk, but it didn’t matter: The pass traveled from Lance’s fingertips to Aiyuk’s hands in several nanoseconds (unofficially).
Last week, offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel termed Garoppolo one of the “best throwers on the planet.” And Lance made a patented, flickof-the-wrist, flat-footed Garoppolo throw on the final play of the first quarter.
On first down from the 49ers’ 30-yard line, Lance rolled left, ended up at the 18-yard line with defensive lineman Jacob Martin in pursuit and slung a 12-yard completion, that traveled 23 yards, to wide receiver Trent Sherfield along the left sideline.
A sign of Lance’s in-game progress — and vanished jitters — came in the third quarter on his first touchdown pass. He rolled right, had Mitchell wide open around the line of scrimmage (sound familiar?) and, this time, lobbed the routine pass to his running back for a walk-in 8-yard score.
Other Lance-related observations
from the win over Houston:
Lance completed 4 of 5 passes for 91 yards on third down in the second half, netting four first downs.
His most notable third-down conversion came one play before his touchdown pass to Mitchell, with the 49ers trailing 7-3 and facing 3rd-and-3 at Houston’s 14-yard line.
Lance’s first read was Kittle, who was double covered down the middle as the pocket began to collapse. Lance, who often looked harried under pressure early in the game, responded by drifting to his right as running back JaMycal Hasty emerged from the backfield on a delayed route and did something I didn’t fully appreciate during the game: He jumped and threw a midair pass, leading Hasty perfectly toward the left sideline, for a 6-yard gain.
Lance didn’t have any of his
23 passes batted down at the line of scrimmage. And that is, perhaps, a sign of his development.
He entered Sunday’s game with five tipped passes in his first 48 career attempts — a huge figure. Garoppolo, for example, has had five passes batted down on 409 attempts this season.
As Hall of Fame quarterback Steve Young has discussed, batted passes are a sign that a QB is staring down his targets, which allows defensive linemen to anticipate.
Lance wasn’t flawless in this area Sunday, but zero tips suggest there was improvement.
Lance’s numbers for the 49ers’ first four scoreless drives weren’t horrific: He’d completed 5 of 6 for 47 yards with an interception.
But it’s fair to say the Texans weren’t impressed. It was telling that Houston called a timeout with 1:51 left in the second quarter after Samuel’s firstdown run went for no gain.
That is, the Texans, owners of the NFL’s 30th-ranked defense, were confident they would stop the 49ers and get the ball back before halftime. As it turns out, they were right: The 49ers were forced to punt, but S.F. still got another possession before halftime because the Texans followed with their own three-and-out drive.
Head coach Kyle Shanahan had a perplexing late-game play call.
The situation: The 49ers were leading 20-7 with two minutes left, were facing 3rdand-3 from Houston’s 20-yard line, and the Texans were out of timeouts.
Shanahan’s call: He had Lance run a QB power over right tackle, and the rookie took a shot from 234-pound linebacker Neville Hewitt at the end of a 2-yard run.
It went largely unnoticed, but Lance, of course, is playing only because Garoppolo has a thumb injury that’s clouding his availability for Sunday’s high-stakes regular-season finale against the Rams.
Can you imagine the uproar if Shanahan’s decision to unnecessarily put Lance in harm’s way meant Nate Sudfeld had to start in Los Angeles with a playoff berth on the line?