Nick Mullens' Honeymoon Ends in 49ers' 25-20 Week 4 Loss to Eagles
Ugly. Pitiful. Disgusting.
For the second time this season, the San Francisco 49ers were not themselves in their 25-14 loss Week 4 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.
Yes, injuries are still hurting them.
Yes, they are playing with a backup quarterback.
But those issues were not hindering the 49ers against the Jets and Giants the last two weeks. They cannot all of a sudden be an excuse for this loss. The 49ers were more than capable of beating an 0-2-1 team. Even the Philadelphia media was expecting the 49ers to own the Eagles.
Injuries finally were not the story of the game for the 49ers, but what is the story is how there is NO quarterback controversy.
Mullens looked fantastic against the Giants in Week 3 and he should have replicated that performance against the Eagles tonight. Unfortunately, the bright lights and grand stage was too much for him. He had Deebo Samuel and George Kittle back. It should have been an easy win for the 49ers. It should have been another strong outing from Mullens, but he choked.
From the very moment he missed Kyle Juszczyk on the seam route in the opening drive, you just knew Mullens was going to struggle. And boy did he struggle. He looked like a backup quarterback... shocker.
Mullens just couldn't settle in and play to his strengths. It is not like the Eagles have this amazing defense. He just simply didn't have it tonight. Mullens played scared and nervous. He played so atrocious that head coach Kyle Shanahan put C.J. Beathard in with five minutes left to go in the fourth quarter.
If Jimmy Garoppolo were starting, this game would have been put away early. He just handles the faults of the offense so much better and can keep the boat sailing. After Mullens poor performance, you can fully expect Garoppolo's ankle to miraculously be healed and ready for the Miami Dolphins in Week 5.
A major part of why Mullens wasn't able to is because of the offensive line. That group struggled immensely against the Eagles. It was an outright pathetic performance by the group.
After that performance, questions need to start being asked about right tackle Mike McGlinchey. He arguably is the worst starting offensive lineman for the 49ers and was practically a liability for the 49ers. Daniel Brunskill has looked the ugliest, but he has an excuse at least. He was playing center for the entirety of training camp just so the 49ers could have practice.
What is McGlinchey's excuse? He can't play strong cause Joe Staley isn't there?
Whatever the reason is, the 49ers have an issue with right tackle. Interior offensive line was already a glaring issue, but now McGlinchey's performance is creating a new Achilles heel for the 49ers. Even Trent Williams didn't look good today.
Considering the 49ers are still down some key players, they cannot afford their most reliable players to become unreliable. This was just a massively disappointing game. The key players didn't come through nor did the coaching staff. San Francisco is a deep enough team to beat the Eagles.
Now the 49ers see themselves sitting in last place in the NFC West at 2-2.
