SF 49ers: 5 players who must step up over final six games
By Peter Panacy
No. 1: SF 49ers Quarterback Nick Mullens
The Niners aren’t good enough or deep enough elsewhere on their roster to make up for lackluster play from Nick Mullens.
And over the last two weeks, Mullens’ efforts in relief of the starter, Jimmy Garoppolo, haven’t exactly been pretty.
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In Week 9 against the Green Bay Packers, Mullens was 22-of-35 for 291 yards, a touchdown and one interception, all for a passer rating of 86.7. One could also point out those stats look better because the bulk of his completions came in second-half “garbage time” when the game was essentially sealed in the Packers’ favor.
Then in Week 10 against the New Orleans Saints, Mullens lost his dueling bid against quarterback Drew Brees (who exited at halftime with a ribs injury) and went 24-of-38 for 247 yards, one touchdown against two picks for a 68.6 passer rating.
With San Francisco’s ground game scuffling, teams are now cheating up towards the line of scrimmage and daring Mullens to throw.
Over the last two games, this approach has worked. Mullens hasn’t been effective enough.
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For the SF 49ers to stand a chance and get back into the playoff hunt, Mullens will need to emulate the kind of play he was capable of showing back when he made his NFL on-field debut in 2018.