It’s Nick Mullens world; we’re just living in it…at least for tonight.
In his first NFL start, Mullens led the Niners to their second win of the season, as they steamrolled the Oakland Raiders to win the Battle of the Bay.
Mullens was 16-of-22 for 262 yards, three touchdowns and a passer rating of 151.9. Not too shabby for a guy who started the season on the practice squad.
He’s a machine…,” said head coach Kyle Shanahan. “…Just how locked in he is, his detail and how he prepares for a game each week. There was no difference in him knowing the game plan this week than last year, when he didn’t have a chance of playing…He’s always working. He’s always studying. He’s always acting like he’s going to be the starter.”
Mullens agrees that this week was similar to others.
“The feeling, obviously, knowing that you’re going to start puts some more emphasis on it I guess you guys could say,” Mullens said. “But…my preparation stayed pretty consistent. Studied the plan. Always going to be ready when my name is called, and it was called. I just tried to do the best that I could. The team did the best that we could. We played great, sound football all three phases of the game.”
That they did. The 49ers defense finished the day with eight sacks, with the pass rush taking advantage of a weak Raiders offense. Special teams had a strong day as well. It was a team win. And the team heard from it’s QB1 before the game began.
“He did phenomenal, because that’s what the team needed,” cornerback Richard Sherman said of Mullens’ pregame speech. “In a situation like this, primetime, Thursday night, this guy’s first start, the team needs to hear from him…They need to hear him. He’s going to lead us out there today. He’s going to be the guy who gets us this win. He did everything right today. This Nick Mullens’ day. BDN.”
Accurate.
“I was ready to go…” Mullens said. Yeah, I love doing that stuff. I’m pretty, I guess, I don’t know what guys would describe me as, chill in the locker room..On game day, I love to compete and that’s what it’s all about. So, yeah, I was ready to go. The whole team was. We brought great energy, played with great energy on offense, defense and special teams.”
Before and after the game, Mullens heard from fellow Southern Mississippi QB, Brett Favre.
“He just told me how proud of me he was,” Mullens said. “He sent me a message before the game. He said, ‘No pressure. Just be yourself,’ and that’s what I tried to do before the game and during the game. So, just tried to stay calm out there and lead the offense. Obviously, we got some veterans on the O-Line, so it was just a very collective effort.”
Mullens came out on his first drive going 3-for-3 for 41 yards, including a 24-yard TD to Pierre Garçon and never looked back. He had such a big night that he got verified on Twitter midway through the game.
“It’s cool,” Mullens said. “…I think somebody told me after the game. I was really excited about a lot more things than that.” Yeah that’s fair.
The success doesn’t come without a lot of hard work, and though Mullens may have shocked the NFL on Thursday Night Football, his teammates were not surprised at the performance.
“He’s literally more prepared than Coach Shanahan, I swear, for our games,” said tight end George Kittle, who made a spectacular catch and then a touchdown early in the third quarter. “…He is a guy that prepares every week, like he is the starter, the guy, and that’s not anyone telling him he should study more…My favorite story that I’ve heard so far is that when we have away games, he puts on his headphones super loud, crowd noise, and then he calls the plays out loud so he gets used to calling them with noise all around him. That’s the best thing I’ve seen so far.”
Mullens confirmed that this is true and that you can get “crowd noise” on Apple Music. Of course.
Kittle also called Mullens “cool, calm and confident” on the sidelines throughout the game.
With the Raiders moving to Las Vegas, this was the final Battle of the Bay, and the 49ers were happy to win it.
“I grew up a huge Niners fan.” Shanahan said. “I also grew up a Raiders hater from growing up mainly in the AFC West, and also having a history with them. It feels good definitely. It feels good to win and I’m definitely happy for our fans.”
The one negative of the game is running back Raheem Mostert, who was having a great night with seven carries for 86 yards, broke his arm and is most likely out for the season.
The Niners are off until November 12 when the New York Giants come to Levi’s Stadium for Monday Night Football. Shanahan would not confirm his starting quarterback for that game, but it’s a good bet that it will be #4. Go Niners!
