Late in the fourth quarter of the 49ers’ exhibition game with the Texans in Houston Saturday night, third-string quarterback Nick Mullens drove San Francisco 68 yards for a go-ahead field goal.
The 23-yard kick by Robbie Gould produced a 13-10 lead for the Niners. The Texans then stormed back for a 16-13 victory.
But victories (and losses) in August don’t mean a thing. The important part of the game occurred in the first quarter when San Francisco’s first-team offense was on the field and quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo looked as good as he did over the final five games of the 2017 regular season.
Garoppolo played just two series, into the early moments of the second quarter, and completed 10-of-12 passes for 136 yards, one touchdown and one interception (that went off the hands of his intended receiver).
On third- and fourth-down plays, Garoppolo was 7-of-7 for 106 yards, the TD and a 158.3 quarterback rating, according to Chris Biderman of the Niners Wire.
The first drive went 78 yards, ending with a 2-yard TD strike to Trent Taylor to give San Francisco a 7-0 lead. On that drive, Garoppolo hit six of seven passes. Included among those completions was a deep strike down the sideline to Marquise Goodwin for 40 yards.
Tweeted Joe Fann of 49ers.com: “Suffice to say, he looked ready for the regular season.”
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The good news, too, for the Niners, was the team apparently suffered no major injuries Saturday. After last week’s exhibition opener in which several players were hurt, that was welcome.
Now, Garoppolo and his teammates will get ready for exhibition No. 3 on Saturday, Aug. 25, in Indianapolis vs. the Colts.
