The National Football League completes their first full week of preseason action today with a pair of games. The play begins at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time when the defending Super Bowl Champion Kansas City Chiefs visit the New Orleans Saints. The later contest, set to kick off at 1:00 p.m., has the San Francisco 49ers in Las Vegas to meet the Raiders.
Today’s action is all about the quarterbacks.
In New Orleans, Kansas City Quarterback Patrick Mahomes will start behind center and will be opposed by new Saints signal caller Derek Carr. Mahomes will more than likely see limited action for Andy Reid’s team while Carr is expected to play longer for his new team.
In Las Vegas, all the quarterbacks that have competed for the 49ers in recent seasons will be in attendance. Last year, the 49ers named one-time first round draft pick Trey Lance their starter before camp even opened. Then, in second week action, Lance was sidelined with an injury that forced the defending NFC West Division Champions to turn back to Jimmy Garoppolo, who had been the 49ers starter in recent years and led them to the Super Bowl to complete the 2019 season.
Garoppolo led the 49ers to the top of their division standings but was injured in December in a contest against the Miami Dolphins. This forced the 49ers to turn to the final player selected in the 2022 draft, Brock Purdy. His opening professional season unfolded like a Hollywood movie until his undefeated success ended in the NFC Championship Game with a career threatening injury.
Purdy is still on the mend, although he appears on schedule to be available this preseason and perhaps ready to go by opening day next month. But, the man that was inserted to replace Garoppolo last year, Lance, will get the start today and appears the favorite to win the permanent job for Kyle Shanahan’s squad.
Garoppolo has made a near full recovery from the injury he suffered last December and may see action today for his new team. As for Lance, he will play the first half for the 49ers today and then turn the quarterback duties over to newly acquired Sam Darnold in the second half.
So, there you have the schedule today. Two games that feature important work to decide who is going to line up behind center for these four teams. Next month, Mahomes and Carr will be the starters for Kansas City and New Orleans respectively. But who will be behind center in San Francisco and Las Vegas still depends on the competition and health of their play callers.
It lends to a very interesting day of football, but not a matchup or situation that warrants a wager.