LAS VEGAS — Trey Lance and the 49ers offense got off to a slow start in their preseason opener against the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday at Allegiant Stadium.
In his first chance to win the 49ers' backup quarterback job, Lance finished the half completing 10 of his 15 attempts for 112 yards and one touchdown pass, good for a 111.0 passer rating. It was not Lance's smoothest performance, but it was also without the entire starting offense, and most importantly, the offensive line.
After three straight three-and-outs to begin the game that included three quarterback sacks and only one total yard gained, things looked bleak. In the first quarter, Lance completed two of his four attempts for nine yards and lost 13 yards on the three sacks.
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The 49ers' offense finally got into a rhythm on the fourth drive and was able to move the ball for a first down. Lance opened the drive with a jet sweep to rookie wide receiver Ronnie Bell followed with a handoff to Ty Davis-Price.
Consecutive completions to tight end Troy Fumagalli and receiver Chris Conley kept the drive alive, followed by another Davis-Price run.
Maybe the most impressive play was when Lance scrambled forward and away from the pass rush while having complete awareness of the sticks. Before he crossed the line of scrimmage, Lance tossed the ball forward to Willie Snead IV for a 12-yard completion.
Then, the nearly impossible happened. Lance threw an ill-advised cross-body pass to Conley in the back of the end zone. Raiders cornerback Duke Shelley broke up the pass but batted it into the hands of tight end Ross Dwelley for the 49ers' only points of the first half.
San Francisco 49ers
Lance’s fifth drive was not as productive, ending with a turnover on downs, but the third-year quarterback did complete a 5-yard pass to tight end Charlie Woerner and 17-yard dart to Conley, who was in triple coverage.
The final drive of the half started with a pass from Lance that should have been intercepted by Raiders linebacker Amari Burney, but was dropped. Lance followed that by 24-yard pass to Conley to move the chains.
A completion to Fumagalli and an ensuing penalty moved the ball within field goal range. One more attempt to Conley fell incomplete in the end zone before rookie Jake Moody trotted missed a 40-yard field goal attempt to end the first half.
Sam Darnold took over in the second half in his attempt to win the backup job behind starter Brock Purdy.