On Sunday, the Houston Texans could see a rookie quarterback duel against the 49ers.
The San Francisco 49ers could be without their top quarterback come Sunday, as tests performed over the weekend showed that he has a torn ligament in his thumb and may not suit up on Sunday. But, seeing how conflicted 49ers fans are with Garoppolo’s struggles and Trey Lance’s limited snaps, it really could work and hurt the Houston Texans at the same time.
With Garoppolo, the 49ers get a game manager who won’t necessarily be the worst passer on the field. He isn’t going to win them a ton of games with his arm (hence why Deebo Samuel’s been running so much). Meanwhile, Lance has hardly played at all this season, and he struggled- completing close to 50% of his passes in games against the Arizona Cardinals and Seattle Seahawks.
49ers’ QB Jimmy Garoppolo suffered a right thumb UCL tear along with a fracture, per source.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) December 27, 2021
The Houston Texans need to take advantage of the 49ers QB situation
While it’s still unclear if Garoppolo will play, either quarterback shouldn’t instill fear into the fans of the Houston Texans. This team just took down Justin Herbert and the Chargers, and here come the 49ers’ middle-of-the-road quarterbacks.
As long as Houston can get pressure and force turnovers and make the 49ers try to beat them through the air, Houston has a fighter’s chance at winning this game. The momentum from the two-game win streak that Houston is currently on will help.
There’s also the chance that Mills outperforms whoever plays quarterback for San Francisco. Mills has seemingly gotten comfortable and is showing what he can do. At this point, forget the draft (funny that I’m saying this) and spoil the 49ers’ playoff chances.
Any given Sunday still applies.