San Francisco 49s Oakland Raiders defeat 34-3, Raheem Mostert injury video

Raheem Mostert, Raheem Mostert.

Here's what we learned on Thursday Night Football.

1. An undesirable underwhelming West Coast matchup one of the lowest rates in the world. Brett Favre 's records at Southern Miss, Mullens wisely thing to align himself with 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan, one of the brightest quarterback gurus in football.

With starter Jimmy Garoppolo out for the season and backup C.J. Beathard too banged up to throw effectively, Shanahan had Mullens fully prepared and ready to embrace the moment despite a short week's worth of practice time.

2. Bolstered by Shanahan's scripted play calls, Mullens came out firing, nailing his first six badists for 76 yards and a touchdown.

After finding Pierre Garcon wide open on a 24-yard, boot-action score, Mullens tossed a 4-yard touchdown to a slightly less open Kendrick Bourne to take a 14-3 lead on the Niners' Bay Area rivals.

San Francisco's third-string Tennessee's Marcus Mariota NFL possessions.

Thrilling into a second half, Mullens was the beneficiary of a spectacular effort by George Kittle on an improbable 71-yard catch-and-run that set up a 5-yard scoring toss to the tight end star.

Raheem Mostert broke the Raiders' backs on the next possession, racing 52 yards to pay dirt against a defense that appeared to be packed in the evening.

Mullens finished his debut 16 of 22 for 262 yards (11.9 YPA) for three touchdowns and a near-perfect 151.9 pbad rating. How was this dream come true? Before the game, it was almost unknown to the world. By the start of the fourth quarter, he had become a household name – finally verified on Twitter.

3. The early-season loss of Garoppolo has provided a cover for the worst problems in the league (1-7).

What the 49ers do for going on, though, is Shanahan's offensive mind, a consistently excellent ground attack and a tight-grinding game with Rob Gronkowski's perennial All-Pro spot.

Without breaking stride, Kittle turned an outstretched, one-handed circus wrestling into the night's biggest win and one of the most impressive plays of the season.

4. Matt Breida and Raheem Mostert were cruising through Paul Guenther's nonchalant defense, running through gaping holes at nearly 7.0 yards per clip into the third quarter.

That ultra-productive tandem was disbadembled when Mostert went down with a fractured forearm.

Veteran Alfred Morris, the power back displaced by Mostert in the rotation of the late, came on to kill the clock in the fourth quarter.

Look for Breida and Morris to split the load going forward.

5. Alternately confused and irate, Raiders coach Jon Gruden had amateur lip readers deciphering the colorful language at his shaky offensive line and broken defense.

Derek Carr rookie left tackle Kolton Miller re-injured his knee in the red zone.

From then on, Carr's pbad protection was relentlessly exploited by a front seven that had been woefully short of impact for the rushers of the first two months of the season.

This is the second straight game – sandwiching the Week 8 bye – in which the tackle trio of Miller, fellow rookie Brandon Parker and swingman Ian Silberman sabotaged Carr's chances of running a viable offense.

It's impossible to evaluate the play of Carr, who has been absorbed more into the grudge and offensive line Tom Cable than he took all of last season.

6. Featuring a collection of misfits, cast-offs and fading veterans, Guenther's defense is more than NFL history.

At one point in the third quarter, the Raiders had their own possessions, excluding kneel-downs.

The talent level is an issue even before the preseason blockbuster that feels 2016 Defensive Player of the Year Khalil Mack to Chicago. Now the effort level is in question.

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