What a week for Nick Mullens.
He took his first snaps in an NFL regular-season game, and had a historic night with the highest passer rating from a quarterback with at least 16 attempts in his debut. Sure, it came against the Raiders, but, hey, who’s counting?
Mullens showed emotion on the field, as the 49ers snapped a six-game losing streak. He showed emotion during his post-game interview with Erin Andrews.
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SIGN UP HERE Here’s something else for him to get excited about: After getting the word he will start in Week 10 against the New York Giants, Mullens gets the honor of being atop the NFL Quarterback Power Rankings.
Here are our official rankings at the beginning of Week 10:
1. NICK MULLENS, 49ERS: C’mon! Of course! (Last week: C.J. Beathard, 30)
2. Drew Brees, New Orleans: As long as he keeps dialing up Michael Thomas, he’ll be fine. (4)
3. Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City: The kid is not slowing down. (2)
4. Tom Brady, New England: The clear winner of the Battle of NorCal vs. Aaron Rodgers. (6)
5. Russell Wilson, Seattle: He has to come up huge in order for Seahawks to pull out a possible season-turning win in L.A. (3)
6. Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay: The Pack are under .500 at the midway point, and Rodgers might face an uphill climb to get into the playoffs. (5)
7. Cam Newton, Carolina: Newton and Norv Turner are quite a team. (8)
8. Matt Ryan, Atlanta: He’s on pace with Matt Ryan, circa 2016. (9)
9. Philip Rivers, L.A. Chargers: He’s hoping, praying, he gets the same time to throw to wide-open receivers that Mullens enjoyed against the Raiders. (7)
10. Deshaun Watson, Houston: He’s thrown 36 TDs in his first 16 starts. The Texans are rolling. (1)
11. Jared Goff, L.A. Rams: There’s no shame to being outdueled by the master, Drew Brees, inside the Superdome. (10)
12. Carson Wentz, Philadelphia: As he returns from the bye week, the underperforming Eagles are still the team to beat in the NFC East. (11)
13. Andrew Luck, Indianapolis: The elbow is OK. (12)
14. Kirk Cousins, Minnesota: He’s on pace to shatter franchise record for passing yards, which is why they gave him the big bucks. (14)
15. Ben Roethlisberger, Pittsburgh: Tell Le’Veon Bell to stay away. The Steelers have turned it around. (15)
16. Matthew Stafford, Detroit: He was sacked 10 times, hit 17 times, and lived to tell about it. (13)
17. Mitchell Trubisky, Chicago: Don’t look now, but here he comes. (16)
18. Marcus Mariota, Tennessee: In 14 third-down opportunities, Mariota picked up 11 with his arm and legs. (23)
19. Dak Prescott, Dallas: We won’t know how good he can be until there’s a coaching change. (18)
20. Andy Dalton, Cincinnati: It’s the bye week, so he went to an island and worked on that tan. (19)
21. Ryan Fitzpatrick, Tampa Bay: This team is a mess. (Jameis Winston, 31)
22. Alex Smith, Washington: The stable leader of the NFL’s most thoroughly uninspiring division leader. (17)
23. DEREK CARR, RAIDERS: He looked beaten and defeated last Thursday against one of the league’s worst pass rushes. (21)
24. Joe Flacco, Baltimore: He’d rather just not throw a TD pass than throw one to Lamar Jackson. (20)
25. Eli Manning, N.Y. Giants: The nation awaits his Monday night show at Levi’s. (22)
26. Baker Mayfield, Cleveland: The Browns are better, but it’s a wasted rookie year with a complete overhaul coming after the season. (26)
27. Case Keenum, Denver: There’s just not a lot here. (24)
28. Blake Bortles, Jacksonville: For a change, there were no complaints about his performance. The bye week is great. (25)
29. Brock Osweiler, Miami: He’s keeping the seat warm for Ryan Tannehill. (29)
30. Josh Rosen, Arizona: He’s feeling lucky he did not have to match Mullens touchdown-for-touchdown in their two wins vs. the 49ers. (28)
31. Nathan Peterman, Buffalo: He’s thrown six TD passes in his career. Exactly half of those scores have gone to the other team. (32)
32. Sam Darnold, N.Y. Jets: It takes a lot to bump Peterman from the bottom spot. Darnold’s four picks is bad enough to do the trick. (27)