The Trey Lance era with the San Francisco 49ers officially kicked off in Week 1, and it opened up with a lowly 19-10 road defeat to the Chicago Bears.
Not much went Lance’s way over the course of the game. Lance anchored 11 total drives and guided the offense to a mere two scoring drives, as he finished with a 50.3 passer rating and one interception thrown against the Bears. With the dismal weather conditions coupled with the lackluster efficiency on offense, it was a day to forget for San Francisco.
Following the game, Lance shied away from playing the blame game for his sluggish performance in the matchup but rather took accountability for it.
“Feel like I’m a lot better than that,” Lance said.
Lance further noted that he simply has to “clean up” the mistakes that he made in the game.
“I made too many mistakes,” Lance said. “Defense kept us in the game. Had a big miss to Tyler Kroft in the end zone. Tried to throw a perfect ball. I shoulda tried to put it right on him, he was wide-open. Turned the ball over, took a sack that took us out of field goal range.
“I shouldn’t have missed Deebo on the third down. Missed another third down to Jauan (Jennings). Just too many mistakes. Lots of stuff to clean up for sure, for me. But excited. Still got my head up.”
49ers offensive tackle Trent Williams later spoke in the team’s post-game press conference, where he gave Lance credit for owning up to his overall showing in the road loss to Chicago.
“That’s why they handed him the keys to the organization,” Williams said. “He’s a mature dude.”
In the big picture, Lance found difficulty in getting the 49ers’ speedy playmakers involved on offense. For one, he targeted Deebo Samuel seven times, and the wideout came away with two receptions for 14 receiving yards. At the least, Samuel did factor into the 49ers’ game planning on the ground, tallying 52 rushing yards and one rushing touchdown.
Lance will now have an opportunity to orchestrate a bounce-back performance in the 49ers’ upcoming home opener against the Seattle Seahawks in Week 2.