49'ers Head Coach Kyle Shanahan will ride with C.J. Beathard (2 INT's, 1 fumble, Sacked 7 times in Sunday's Loss) because he's 49ers' best QB
By
Matt Maiocco October 21, 2018 5:58 PM
SANTA CLARA -- C.J. Beathard has gained a lot of experience in nearly 1½ seasons in the NFL.
On Sunday, the experience was far from positive.
Beathard and the 49ers’ offense, which had shown
plenty of promise Monday in Green Bay, were overmatched and smothered in
a 39-10 loss to the Los Angeles Rams at Levi’s Stadium.
Beathard completed just 15 of 27 passes for 170 yards and one touchdown with two interceptions. He also fumbled once, as the 49ers committed four turnovers, and was sacked seven times for minus-49 yards.
“Bad effort,” 49ers left tackle Joe Staley said. “We can control what we do up front, and we did a poor job today. No excuses there. Just didn’t get it done,
didn’t give C.J. time. He was under duress the whole game.”
Beathard’s stat line was unsightly, but 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan agreed that a lot of different people, including himself, share the blame.
“It’s not just C.J., it’s everyone,” Shanahan said. “The quarterback -- when the ball leaves his hands -- he’s going to get credit for that turnover, but by no means is it 100 percent on C.J.
“Of course, he’s got to do better. I’ve got to do better, and we’ve got to do a lot better around him.”
Beathard started his fourth game -- all losses -- since taking over for Jimmy Garoppolo, who
sustained a season-ending knee injury in the 49ers’ Week 3 loss at Kansas City.
One of Beathard’s interceptions came on a pass on which Marquise Goodwin stopped his route, allowing Rams cornerback Troy Hill to cut in front of him. Another came on a pass where safety John Johnson took the ball away from tight end George Kittle.
There hasn't been any thought given to replacing Beathard with backup quarterback Nick Mullens, Shanahan said, for one important reason.
“Because C.J. is the best quarterback we have in our building,” Shanahan said.
On Sunday, Beathard, a second-year pro, surpassed Garoppolo in career NFL pass attempts. Garoppolo has relatively little experience in five seasons due to serving as Tom Brady’s backup with the New England Patriots for 3½ seasons before a midseason
trade sent him to the 49ers last year.
Garoppolo in his career has completed 236 of 361 attempts (65.4 percent) for 2,968 yards and 17 touchdowns with eight interceptions.
Beathard has nine starts since coming to the 49ers as a third-round draft pick last year. He has completed 211 of 365 attempts (57.8 percent) for 2,492 yards and 11 touchdowns with 13 interceptions.
“It’s tough,” Beathard said. “Right now we’re 1-6, and it’s not where anybody pictured us at this point and not where anybody wants to be. But the only thing you can do is get back to work tomorrow and move forward.
“We got nine games left in the regulation season. We have an opportunity really turn the season around and have a good year.”
LINK: https://www.nbcsports.com/bayarea/4...ll-ride-cj-beathard-because-hes-49ers-best-qb
