The Rebel alliance has been damaged but not destroyed, as a young Padawan, Lance Skywalker is learning the force and battling to control his emotions as the Empire tries to smash the resistance and keep the Separatist 49ers out of the playoffs.

Is Shanahan Yoda? Is Lynch Obi Wan Kenobi? OK, fuck that, but hey it was a nice start. Here we are, one game in, and Lance did have his rookie moments. So did Shanahan though. I hated the read-option handoffs early, and luckily Shanny got right away from that. So he can adjust on the fly. And, for once in a great while, the team played better in the 2nd half.

Sure, Lance was indecisive on when to scramble some times, and didn’t go hard for a 1st down on a scramble, but these are situations that he will learn by getting reps. Going through his read is a different matter, but even early, on a play designed to go to Kittle on the left side, he rolled right out of the designed play, in the end zone no less, and found Aiyuk for a short 12 yard gain, but it got us out of the shadow of the goal line, and was a play that Jimmy G usually starts tap-dancing to nowhere and takes a sack.

And the throw to Samuel for the 45 yard TD was straight on the money and is one that Jimmy G relentlessly struggle with. And the lob to Mitchell for the first TD was easy, but again, Jimmy misses that throw a lot. So, yeah, I’d love to see more consistent play from Lance, but I’ve been saying that about Jimmy G for 4 years now.

So, I’ll give Lance the benefit of the doubt on the mis-read pick as he IS a rookie. Jimmy G still makes these mistakes 7 years into his Jedi training. May the Schwartz be with you.