49ers win over Seahawks made hollow by Trey Lance injury

The 49ers may have pulled off a convincing Week 2 win over the Seahawks, but the victory was made awfully bittersweet with a serious injury to Trey Lance.

The San Francisco 49ers’ 27-7 Week 2 victory over the visiting Seattle Seahawks isn’t going to come close to being the talking point surrounding the Niners this upcoming week.

No, it’ll be what likely is a very serious ankle injury suffered by quarterback Trey Lance.

With just over two minutes remaining in the first quarter, and with San Francisco holding a 6-0 lead over its NFC West rivals, Lance attempted a quarterback-power run up the middle only to gain 2 yards before having two Hawks defenders falling on him.

The end result was Lance suffering what appears to be a serious ankle injury, which required the second-year signal-caller to be hauled off via a cart.

Devastating. No other way around it.

It’s devastating for more than just Lance’s injury, too. While the 49ers offense seemed to click better with veteran quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, entering the game in relief of Lance, the latter’s much-needed maturation in year two of his pro career is likely to experience a serious stunt.

Currently, it’s unknown how much time Lance will miss. However, given visual images of his ankle, it’s likely to be a considerable amount of time.

Perhaps of the season-ending variety, as ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported.

Jimmy Garoppolo looks invigorated in 49ers win vs. Seahawks

Garoppolo, the subject of all sorts of trade speculation during the offseason, didn’t work out with the team during training camp and the preseason. Only after the Niners elected to retain him on a reduced salary for 2022 did he wind up practicing with his teammates.

However, Jimmy G didn’t hesitate to take command of the offense as soon as Lance exited, soon after finding tight end Ross Dwelley for a wide-open 38-yard touchdown in the second quarter:

Garoppolo also added a 1-yard quarterback sneak for a touchdown to ice the game late in the fourth quarter.

While he and San Francisco’s offense slowed somewhat after halftime, Garoppolo nevertheless finished the game going 13-of-21 for 154 yards, two touchdowns (one passing and one rushing) against zero interceptions and a 100.1 passer rating.

That’ll surely add plenty of fuel to the offseason fire discussion about whether or not the 49ers should have transitioned away from him and to Lance.

Related Story: Jimmy Garoppolo relieves injured Trey Lance vs. Seahawks

49ers defense clamps down on Geno Smith, Seahawks

Even though Seattle pulled off a stunning Week 1 home victory over its former quarterback, Russell Wilson and the Denver Broncos, the Seahawks failed to record offensive points in the second half of that particular game and were likewise held in check for the bulk of Week 2, too.

Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith, picked off early by reserve Niners safety Tashon Gipson, eventually finished the game with a 24-of-30 line passing for 198 yards, one interception and an 80.3 passer rating.

Overall, the Hawks managed just 216 netyards of total offense and were held to only 35 yards rushing.

Meanwhile, EDGE Nick Bosa tacked on a sack for the second time in as many weeks, finishing with 1.5, while Smith was hit nine times.

Aside from a fluky blocked field goal, one which was returned for a touchdown, the Hawks had all kinds of difficulty getting into scoring position.

Certainly a good day from San Francisco’s defense, which needed the boost after faltering in the second half of the Week 1 road loss to the Chicago Bears.

However, the talk surrounding the 49ers this upcoming week won’t focus on the defense, dominating the Seahawks or even some of the other strange elements from the game.

No, it’ll all be about Lance’s injury and Garoppolo’s efforts in relief.