49ers Rookie QB Trey Lance Notches 80-Yard TD Pass in Preseason Debut Against Chiefs
SANTA CLARA (AP) — Trey Lance threw an 80-yard touchdown pass that led to loud cheers from San Francisco fans, and also showed some rookie traits in his preseason debut in the 49ers' 19-16 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs on Saturday night.
The Niners traded three first-round picks to draft Lance third overall in April to be their quarterback of the future. But they also still have incumbent Jimmy Garoppolo, so how soon that future comes remains to be seen.
Lance had an up-and-down first performance with a a few off-target throws, three sharp passes that were dropped by his receivers, and four sacks behind a spotty offensive line.
But the one deep TD pass showed just why coach Kyle Shanahan was so enamored of Lance in the pre-draft process.
Chad Henne threw a TD pass to Byron Pringle after a short cameo by Patrick Mahomes to begin the game and rookie Shane Buechele scored on a 1-yard keeper with 1:14 to play to win it for Kansas City.
On the first play of his second possession, Lance faked a handoff and rolled to his left in a staple play in Shanahan's offense. With Brandon Aiyuk open in front of him, Lance stopped on the hash mark and threw a strike nearly 40 yards downfield to the right side of the field for the TD pass to Trent Sherfield.
That was the only TD for San Francisco in Lance's eight drives. He also led the Niners to one field goal and got them out of the shadow of their goal posts with a 34-yard pass to Charlie Woerner from his end zone.
Lance even got two opportunities late in the half to run the two-minute offense, but had little success. San Francisco managed just one first down on the two possessions and Lance nearly threw an interception to Rashad Fenton.
Lance finished 5 for 14 for 128 yards and the one TD and didn't run the ball once despite excelling at that in college at North Dakota State.
Garoppolo went 3 for 3 for 26 yards on his one drive that ended in a punt.
DIFFERENT APPROACH
The Niners held out 22 players, including nearly their entire starting defense, along with tight end George Kittle, running back Raheem Mostert, fullback Kyle Juszczyk and offensive linemen Trent Williams and Alex Mack.
Kansas City took a different approach with only one starter held out in linebacker Willie Gay,
MAHOMES' DAY
Patrick Mahomes played one series behind Kansas City's overhauled offensive line that features five new starters from last season, including three players who have never suited up for an NFL game.
Mahomes took part in four plays, handing off twice, completing a short pass to Travis Kelce and then a third-down incompletion to Mecole Hardman that led to a punt.
UP NEXT
Chiefs: visit Arizona on Friday.
49ers: The Niners head to Los Angeles for two joint practices against the Chargers before their exhibition game next Sunday.
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