The San Francisco 49ers were unable to turn an impressive C.J. Beathard performance into a win against the Chargers. Here we look at three big takeaways.
The San Francisco 49ers almost pulled off a big upset in Los Angeles on Sunday as they were narrowly defeated, 29-27, by the Chargers in Week 4.
In their first game since Jimmy Garoppolo went down with a torn ACL, the C.J. Beathard-led 49ers produced an admirable performance despite suffering more injuries to a number of key players but were unable to finish the job. Ultimately, the Chargers defense shutting the door with a crucial late interception.
It was an all too familiar tale for the Niners, who regularly lost in similar fashion last season before Garoppolo’s arrival. Here we look at three takeaways from a frustrating loss.
Beathard delivers promising performance
Little was expected from Beathard going into this game following a rookie year in which he won just one game in five starts and completed fewer than 60 percent of his passes while throwing four touchdowns to six interceptions.
However, Beathard played with the poise of a quarterback who is much more comfortable in the second year of what is one of the NFL’s most complex offensive schemes. He made big throws with pressure in his face, was able to scramble for yardage and had little problem moving the ball on a talented defense.
Beathard finished 23-of-37 for 298 yards and two touchdowns and two interceptions. His numbers were boosted by George Kittle’s 82-yard catch and run. However, Trevor Williams’ crucial red zone interception was not on him and it can be argued that the pick Isaac Rochell made to clinch the game was not Beathard’s fault either.
The 2017 third-round pick played well enough to be on the winning team and, though San Francisco did not manage to secure victory, the Niners have to be extremely encouraged by the progress Beathard appears to have made.