Nick Mullens remembers getting the phone call from Archie Manning inviting h

SANTA CLARA Arik Armstead Jersey , Calif. (AP) — im to the prestigious Manning Passing Academy two summers ago.Mullens savored the chance to take part in the four-day clinic run by Archie and his two NFL quarterback sons, Eli and Peyton. Mullens especially relished the opportunity to watch Eli Manning take part in some of the drills.“To see how he moves in the pocket, he has very quick feet and is just very smooth,” Mullens said. “I definitely remember just sitting there and watching him throw. I took that all in.”Mullens now will get another chance to see Manning up close when he makes his second career start for the San Francisco 49ers (2-7) on Monday night against Manning and the New York Giants (1-7).Mullens is coming off a scintillating debut, completing 16 of 22 passes for 262 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions for a 151.9 passer rating in a 34-3 victory over the Oakland Raiders. That’s the highest rating since the merger for a player in his debut with at least 20 attempts.Things might not be as easy now that the Giants have an idea of what Mullens can do.“I think they’re going to be like, ‘Oh crap. This guy is good,'” running back Matt Breida said. “I think they’ll put more people back there to cover because of the throws he made and can do.”While Mullens is just getting started, Manning is nearing the end of his career as he plays his 15th season for a team that is struggling mightily. New York has lost five straight games and the questions are mounting about how much longer the two-time Super Bowl MVP Manning has as quarterback.“I think there’s urgency to get things going, for sure,” Manning said. “We got to get some wins. We got to get going, and everybody wants it. The team needs it, for the morale and for just the hard work and everything we put in. Just need to reap the benefits of the work Frank Gore Color Rush Jersey , and feel good about what we’re doing.”Here are some other things to watch:SPLENDID SAQUONRookie Saquon Barkley has been a rare bright spot for the struggling Giants, topping 100 yards from scrimmage in seven of his first eight games. Barkley has been a bit hit and miss with 16 runs for negative yards, tied for fifth worst in the league, and 11 plays that gained at least 20, which is tied for second most among running backs. Barkley is just the ninth player to gain at least 1,000 yards from scrimmage in the first eight games of his rookie season.“I’m not one of those guys that says, let me see my stats, let me see how much I ran for this or that. I just play,” he said. “I’m not going to stand here and lie, I am very active on social media, so there’s fan pages of me and I can go on Instagram or even on my explore page and they just happen to pop up. I’ve seen predictions of what I’m capable of doing, but it means nothing to me.”PRESSURE POINTThe struggling pass rush for the 49ers broke through in a big way last week with eight sacks against Oakland. Cassius Marsh led the way with a career-best 2 ½, and Dekoda Watson had 1 1/2 in his first game after coming off IR. San Francisco had eight sacks in a game only once in the previous two decades https://www.49ersfanshop.com/Bradley-Pinion-Jersey , doing it against the Rams in 2009.KITTLE’S CATCHESSan Francisco tight end George Kittle has been a big-play threat all season. He had a 71-yard catch and run last week against the Raiders, making him the first tight end since Rich Caster in 1972 to have two 70-yard catches in the same season. Kittle ranks second among all tight ends with 692 yards receiving and is second to Barkley among all players with 496 yards after the catch.STRUGGLING FRANCHISESTwenty-eight years after these franchises met in the best matchup in “Monday Night Football” history, they now play in one of the worst. Back in 1990, the 49ers beat the Giants 7-3 in a matchup of 10-1 teams that provided the highest winning percentage ever for a Monday night game played after Halloween. The teams come into this meeting with a combined winning percentage of .176, the second lowest for a Monday night game played Nov. 1 or later. The lowest combined winning percentage is .167 for a matchup of the New York Jets (3-9) and the Chargers (1-11) in 1975 that featured Hall of Fame QBs Joe Namath and Dan Fouts. The San Francisco 49ers put together their best performance of the season in Week 15, beating the Seattle Seahawks 26-23 in overtime. They put up better numbers against the Oakland Raiders, but given the caliber of the Seahawks, this was their best game of the year.There will be plenty to discuss in the coming days, but I figured we might as well start with the most important player on the field. The 49ers are on their third quarterback, but they have found a keeper in Nick Mullens. He completed 20 of 29 passes for 275 yards and a touchdown, and while he missed a couple open passes to George Kittle, he also showed how much he can take a hit. Frank Clark and Jarran Reed both got huge hits on Mullens, but the 49ers quarterback stood tall in the pocket to make some key plays.Following the game Laken Tomlinson Jersey , cornerback Richard Sherman was effusive in his praise for Mullens (via Nick Wagoner).Where do you think Mullens ranks compared to the rest of the league? There are some truly mediocre quarterbacks in the league right now, and right now, Mullens is playing some really solid football. His performance today is particularly notable because it marked his second start against the Seahawks. They had five games of film, and specifically film from their first matchup. They made adjustments, and Mullens was arguably better in this game.Mullens threw for 414 yards in Seattle, but 300 of those yards came after they were trailing 20-3. It was a solid second half showing, but I would contend this performance was better. Even more interesting? His 689 yards passing over two games are a record against Pete Carroll’s Seahawks.Jimmy Garoppolo is the 49ers starter once he’s back from his ACL injury. But right now, they would appear to have an incredibly capable backup. Mullens’ arm strength does raise some questions, but against Seattle we saw him make some difficult throws — particularly when under significant pressure. He seems to be showing some improvement in that regard.C.J. Beathard will compete with Mullens this offseason, but right now it’s hard to see anybody but Mullens backing up Jimmy G. The 49ers could end up trading Mullens, but if he’s on the roster next year, he would seem to be the front-runner to back up Garoppolo.