After a shaky first half, Trey Lance settled in and delivered his best performance of his rookie season.
Lance and the 49ers beat the Houston Texans 23-7 Sunday at Levi's Stadium, keeping their playoff hopes alive for one more week and setting up an important regular-season finale against the Los Angeles Rams in Week 18.
After a shaky first half against the Texans, Lance settled in very nicely, finishing the game completing 16-of-23 passes for 249 yards, two touchdowns and one interception while rushing for 31 yards on eight carries.
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SIGN UP HERE NFL Media Analyst Brian Baldinger joined 95.7 The Game's The Morning Roast to discuss Lance's big game and compared some of his throws to that of an NFL Hall of Famer.
"I thought he was good," Baldinger said. "I can't find any glaring mistakes from Trey this past weekend. I thought he saw the field really well, considering he hadn't really played in three months. ... I thought he threw the ball with real touch when he had to. I thought he lasered it when he had to. It's hard to find, really, any criticism. (h/t 49ers Webzone)
"The reason why he was the third pick in the draft is he's a big, strong kid with a big, strong arm," Baldinger shared. "You saw that arm—the throw to [wide receiver] Deebo [Samuel] down the field, across the field. I mean, those are—I'm not saying he's John Elway—but those are John Elway-type throws. Just a big arm, and he's got a cannon, and it comes out hot."
Baldinger also broke down how Lance's ability with his legs and how the constant threat he poses on the ground benefited the 49ers' run game.
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"You watch the Houston linebackers on Sunday with Trey Lance under center, they were confused," Baldinger added, "because he's carrying out his boot-action fake after he's handing it off, and they were just frozen for a second. And that's enough time for [tackle] Trent [Williams] to go pick off the linebacker or [guard] Laken [Tomlinson] to go get up to the second level. And it was a big part of the running success."
"To me, that was a real game-plan thing that [head coach Kyle] Shanahan did on Sunday, was put Trey Lance under center, hand the ball off, and let's do everything off that. And I loved it. I really did."
RELATED: Juice breaks down key difference between Lance and Jimmy G
It remains unclear if Lance will start against the Rams on Sunday while veteran QB Jimmy Garoppolo nurses a torn ligament in his right thumb. If the rookie does indeed get another start, it'll be interesting to see what sort of gameplan coach Kyle Shanahan puts together for such an important game.