Can Nick Mullens Reignite his Thursday Night Magic Against Packers?
Two years ago, a guy by the name of Nick Mullens started for the San Francisco 49ers in his first career start on Thursday Night Football against the Oakland (now Las Vegas) Raiders.
It was a game that was assuredly going to be in favor for the Raiders since no one knew anything of Mullens aside from the fact that he was a third-string quarterback. Well, that night at Levi's Stadium Mullens looked nothing like a backup. He completely embarrassed the Raiders by himself.
"I remember back in, versus Oakland, it was my first start, probably pretty nervous," said Mullens at his presser on Tuesday. "But just going through those walkthroughs really nailing down your progressions, knowing where your early outs are and things like that. It’s really just what I was focusing on during that week. And it’s the same thing I've been focusing on. So yeah, it definitely helps, going through it and Thursday games do come fast.”
From that moment on, he would be given a nickname that I am sure most 49ers fan who are reading this right now will recall.
Mullens will make his return to the Thursday Night Football against the Green Bay Packers this week with Jimmy Garoppolo headed for Injured Reserve. There is a lot riding on this game for the 49ers after losing to the Seattle Seahawks in Week 8.
What the 49ers need is another electric night from Mullens on Thursday Night Football. So can Mullens reignite his Thursday night magic against the Packers?
Yes, he most certainly can IF Kyle Shanahan doesn't get too cute with the offense.
It is on Shanahan to set Mullens up in a position to be successful against the Packers on Thursday night. The clear and obvious way Shanahan must accomplish this is by running the football. Green Bay is still a very weak rush defense. I am sure Shanahan will want to get back to his formula of more than 30 carries a game since they only tallied 22 in the loss to the Seahawks.
JaMycal Hasty is essentially their only option at running back since Jerick McKinnon has "tired legs," a.k.a. he's washed up. The 49ers are more than capable of wrecking havoc on the Packers' defense with Hasty. It was encouraging to see Shanahan not immediately pull Hasty for the rest of the game against Seattle when he fumbled the football. But that could have been just because he had no other options in the backfield.
Still, Hasty is not a guy to get down on. He is an undrafted rookie that needs his confidence intact because when he is running strong, he has the ability to carry the offense.
And that is exactly what will set Mullens up to reignite his Thursday night magic. He might not go for absurd numbers like he did in his debut game against the Raiders. Mainly because the Packers are a better defense than the Raiders at the time and the 49ers will be without most of their wide receivers due to Kendrick Bourne testing positive for COVID-19.
Even without most of his receivers, Mullens is used to throwing to Trent Taylor, Ross Dwelley, and showed a strong connection with Brandon Aiyuk. Mullens will not leave a ton of wide open receivers on the table like Garoppolo does, but he will need the help of his head coach to keep the game in his favor.
