San Francisco 49ers quarterback Nick Mullens looked every part the seasoned veteran against the Oakland Raiders in the first half of Thursday Night Football.
In a battle between two one-win teams, the San Francisco 49ers and Oakland Raiders, Week 9's Thursday Night Football bout was about as non-thrilling a prime-time matchup there could possibly be. With a combined 2-13 record through eight weeks, neither team was expected to feature much prowess. Arguably the best excitement was going to come at halftime.
Especially the Niners, who were rolling out Nick Mullens at quarterback in place of the injured C.J. Beathard (wrist). Yet Mullens was a key reason why San Francisco managed a 17-3 lead after two quarters of play.
Oakland got on the board first, converting a 37-yard field goal by kicker Daniel Carlson after a 10-play drive that saw San Francisco's shorthanded defense bend but not break.
Mullens' first NFL snap saw him complete an 11-yard pass to wide receiver Marquise Goodwin, as it appeared the Raiders were completely sold on the second year pro opening with a handoff. And the rest of San Francisco's offense made easy work of Oakland's defense in response, ending with a 24-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Pierre Garçon off a play fake:
Nick Mullen's first career touchdown pass. He was 3-of-3 for 41 yards and a perfect 158.3 QB rating on the drive. #49ers pic.twitter.com/wsdifsGA86
— Rob Lowder (@Rob_Lowder) November 2, 2018
So much for the first-start jitters from Mullens.
From @ESPNStatsInfo: Nick Mullens is the first player since Carson Wentz to throw a pass TD in his first career game on the team's opening drive.
In past 15 seasons, Mullens joins Wentz, Marcus Mariota and Matt Ryan to do accomplish that.
— Nick Wagoner (@nwagoner) November 2, 2018
Mullens went 12-of-17 for 167 yards and two touchdowns over the first half -- part of 206 all-purpose yards from San Francisco. Running back Matt Breida, who avoided sitting out the game with an ankle injury, racked up just 24 yards on the ground against the league's worst run defense.
The 49ers tacked on another seven points after Mullens found wide receiver Kendrick Bourne for a four-yard touchdown early in the second quarter. Mullens nearly was picked off the previous attempt, but Bourne managed to clear some space in the end zone off his inside slant:
Nick Mullens hits Kendrick Bourne for touchdown No. 2 tonight. #49ers now up 14-3. #OAKvsSF #49wz pic.twitter.com/KMHArcAXwQ
— Peter Panacy (@PeterPanacy) November 2, 2018
One of the big differences between Mullens and Beathard earlier this season was how quickly the former got rid of the ball, whereas Beathard had the tendency to hold onto it for too long. Although it certainly helped that the Raiders ranked dead last in sack production entering the game with just seven QB takedowns.
Meanwhile, San Francisco's own defense managed four first-half sacks on Raiders quarterback Derek Carr -- a key reason Oakland was held to just the three points and 150 first-half yards.
The 49ers closed out the first half with a 39-yard field goal by Robbie Gould. San Francisco will get the ball first in the third quarter.