SANTA CLARA, Calif. — More than a week after Nick Mullens made NFL observers sit up and take notice, his second go-round wasn’t nearly as smooth or easy. And it didn’t end in a victory.
In many ways, Monday’s 27-23 loss to the New York Giants was a much better and more realistic look into what the San Francisco 49ers have in Mullens. Which is a tough, resilient quarterback who is unafraid to take some chances but who isn’t a panacea for this lost 49ers season.
This time around, Mullens didn’t set records or find himself in the esteemed company of a series of Hall of Fame quarterbacks. What he did instead was keep the 2-8 Niners in a game in which he faced some real adversity. For the most part, Mullens responded well to those bumps in the road, but it wasn’t enough.
The result was the Niners’ first home loss on Monday Night Football in their past six tries.
In starting Monday night’s game, Mullens became the first quarterback since Kansas City’s Tyler Palko in 2011 to make his first two NFL starts in prime-time games. Mullens put on a show against the Raiders but faced little resistance. The Giants proved a much feistier challenge despite, like the Raiders, entering the game with just one win.
After an up-and-down game in which Mullens struggled on deeper throws outside the numbers and the Niners’ short passing game was sniffed out before it could get going, he bounced back multiple times from his own mistakes and those of his teammates. He finished 27-of-39 for 250 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions for a passer rating of 73.7.
Given a chance to lead a winning drive with 53 seconds left and the ball at the Niners’ 25, Mullens came up just short. His last-second heave from the Giants’ 21 went out of the end zone.
In all, it was solid if unspectacular, more in line with what you’d expect from an undrafted quarterback making his second NFL start. Mullens showed grit but also more warts than he did in Week 9. His NFL debut against the Raiders — when he threw for 262 yards with three touchdowns and posted the second-best passer rating for a player in his debut since 1973 — might have left many dreaming of a finishing flourish similar to what Jimmy Garoppolo did last season. Such a finish to 2018 has been and remains a long shot.
On the bright side, Mullens didn’t back down at the first sign of trouble.
That much was evident early when Mullens threw an interception on the Niners’ second drive. As a response, he led the Niners on a 75-yard touchdown march on the ensuing possession. When he threw his second pick later on a ball that bounced off receiver Marquise Goodwin‘s hands, he went right back to work and led the Niners to a field goal.
All of that came against a Giants team that didn’t throw in the towel early in the way the Raiders did. New York (2-7) erased a 10-point second-half deficit to win it. While Mullens has proved capable of leading the Niners over the past two weeks, there’s still no need to make sweeping generalizations about his future in the league. He did enough against the Raiders to earn another start. He did enough against the Giants to get a third, even if it wasn’t enough to get a win.
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