The real star of Trey Lance's first NFL rushing TD was Trent Williams' block
The play is going to go down as a Trey Lance rushing touchdown, but the moment, and later the ball, belonged to Trent Williams.
The San Francisco 49ers ended the first half of their "Sunday Night Football" game against the Green Bay Packers with a drive into the red zone that was in danger of stalling. Down 17-0 and on their seventh play within the 20-yard line, the team turned to 2021 third overall pick Trey Lance for a snap under center.
Lance got the ball in shotgun and booked it to the left side of the line. The play depended on the left tackle Williams, winning his block.
Look closely and you will see Williams did much more than that:
TOUCHDOWN, TREY LANCE. #FTTB
📺: #GBvsSF on NBC
📱: https://t.co/KgHDqDkg0d pic.twitter.com/mDBNVHtxYI— NFL (@NFL) September 27, 2021
That right there is cornerback Eric Stokes, the Packers' first-round pick of the 2021 NFL draft, trying to get past Williams for a key stop. Entering the draft, Yahoo Sports' Eric Edholm summed up Stokes as a "long, lean, extremely fast man corner whose lack of physicality could be an issue for some teams."
As it turned out, that lack of physicality was definitely an issue when he was up against Williams, who has been pancaking larger players than Stokes for the last decade. Williams even blocked Stokes out of the frame on one angle:
Trent Williams* BULLYING the DB pic.twitter.com/kfgZxj2XNs
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) September 27, 2021
That effort led to Lance, who witnessed the block right in front of him, immediately giving the ball to Williams. The play was Lance's first career rushing touchdown, but Niners fans are still probably wondering when they can see him under center more often.