For a franchise that was ravaged by injuries at quarterback this past year, Saturday night must have been a satisfying one.
Not only did the 49ers pull off a late 21-20 preseason win over the Denver Broncos – but Brock Purdy, Trey Lance and Sam Darnold each played without incident and gave us a first glimpse at all of the top three Niners QBs in the same game.
“I thought all three of ‘em did a good job,” coach Kyle Shanahan said afterwards. “Good stepping stone for next week.”
Brock Purdy
For the first time since injuring his elbow in the NFC Championship game on Jan. 29, we got to see Brock Purdy in a game situation.
While players like left tackle Trent Williams (rest), running back Christian McCaffrey (rest) and tight end George Kittle (adductor) were unavailable, Purdy got to play with a shell of the first-team offense. Brock finished 4-of-5 for 65 yards and was sacked once, as his lone drive resulted in a 20-yard field goal by Jake Moody.
“I think he did real good,” Shanahan said of Purdy. “The plays that he had, he made. I don’t think he had a bad one.”
Purdy showed good mobility while rolling to his left on a couple of passes but was probably a bit more exposed as a runner than Shanahan would have liked. We didn’t see Purdy uncork any deep passes, with the receivers finding room to roam on some nice misdirection calls by Shanahan. Deebo Samuel caught two passes from Purdy for 39 and rumbled through the Broncos defense on both of them.
If you didn’t know any better, it’d be hard to tell Purdy just recovered from a serious injury.
“Felt really good to be out there with the guys in a game environment,” Purdy said. “Obviously, just get the nerves out a little bit and build up to a game and everything and get an early completion to Deebo to get rolling.”
Ultimately, an 8-yard sack on a 2nd-and-goal attempt from the 2-yard line stalled the drive and the Niners had to settle for a chip shot from Moody.
Shanahan said that the plan is to get Purdy back on the field with the starting offense Friday, when the 49ers will wrap up the preseason against the Los Angeles Chargers.
Sam Darnold
Shanahan gave Darnold a long look on Saturday, putting him on the field for five drives in the second and third quarters.
Darnold’s first three drives resulted in just 44 total yards and three punts, so Shanahan ran him back out after halftime. On the third play of his second-half opening drive, Darnold delivered a dart to rookie receiver Ronnie Bell in the slot but it slipped through his hands for an interception.
In his final chance with the 49ers offense, Darnold engineered a touchdown drive that was capped off by an 11-yard pass to an open Jack Colletto in the right flat for a score.
Darnold finished the evening 11-of-14 for 109 yards, a touchdown and an interception while taking two sacks. He looked fine, but unspectacular while fighting for QB2 reps with Lance.
Trey Lance
Instead of coming in at halftime like Darnold last week, Lance had to wait a bit to get into the game. We didn’t see the third-year signal-caller until there was 45 seconds left in the third quarter, but he got a huge ovation from 49ers fans at Levi’s Stadium.
We got a great situational look at Lance to end the game, as he entered with 2:01 left and 78 yards to go, down by 2 points, after the Niners defense forced a fumble. Aided by a huge 43-yard catch-and-run by Ronnie Bell, Lance led the 49ers to the 6-yard line before Shanahan pulled the plug on the offense and kneeled three times before Moody hit a 32-yarder as time expired to win the game.
Lance said he didn’t ask Shanahan to bring the offense back out there and go for a touchdown late.
“Not in that situation,” Lance said. “I wanted to win the game. Once Ty (Davis-Price) had that run (down to the 6) maybe thought about it, but coming out with a win was the most important thing.”
Lance got a chance to show off his arm on a fourth-quarter touchdown drive, as the Niners ran seven plays – all passes – en route to the end zone. Trey finished off the series 6-of-7 for 85 yards with a well-placed ball to tight end Cameron Latu in the right seam for a 22-yard touchdown.
“I feel like every time I step on the field I learn so much,” Lance said. “I get so much better from every rep, whether it’s practice, games or whatever. Just wanna see as many defenses as I can and continue to get as many reps as I can with these guys.”
Lance also threw an interception in the fourth quarter on a designed screen play that didn’t pan out, as the Broncos defensive line broke up the pass before catching it behind the line of scrimmage.
In general, Lance looked much more decisive and got rid of the ball quicker than his rusty preseason debut last week against the Raiders. He looked comfortable on the move and Shanahan even dialed up a designed outside run for him in the fourth quarter, though the 10-yard gain was wiped out by a holding penalty.
In all, Lance went 12-of-18 for 173 yards, a touchdown and a pick. Lance acquitted himself well, but it’s hard to definitively say he has separated himself from Darnold, as their QB2 competition still appears to be undecided heading into the final week of preseason.
“I thought it went smoother than last week, but by no means we were pumped about it,” Shanahan said. “We’re pumped about the finish, pumped about the win. Did some good things but got a lot to clean up.”
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