49ers Beathard — valiant for most of the night — ultimately comes up short
Ron Kroichick Oct. 15, 2018
GREEN BAY, Wis. — This was all set up for C.J. Beathard.
He played splendidly in the first half, matching artistic spirals and gaudy numbers with Aaron Rodgers. Even as the 49ers nursed their lead into the fourth quarter, Beathard avoided those deflating mistakes he made the previous two weeks, after he replaced Jimmy Garoppolo.
And then he fluttered one regrettable pass downfield. Interception. Rodgers suddenly had the ball back, with 1:07 left and the game tied at 30-30. That was enough, as it turned out.
Rodgers authored another dramatic comeback, setting up Mason Crosby’s field goal on the final play. Just like that, the 49ers lost 33-30 and Beathard’s big night no longer seemed so transformative.
He wore a black glove on his left hand, a grass stain on the back of his left shoulder and a placid expression on his face. It’s a stretch to suggest Beathard arrived as an NFL quarterback on this chilly October night in Green Bay, but he took one giant step forward.
His team’s season teetered on the brink of collapse — with a 1-4 record, Garoppolo gone for the year and Jared Goff and the unbeaten Rams waiting next week. And now, after Rodgers engineered Green Bay’s late surge, the 49ers are staring at the distinct possibility of 1-6.
Beathard completed 16 of 23 passes for 245 yards and two touchdowns. But he also threw the one costly interception, at the worst possible time.
Until then, he avoided the mistakes he made in his first two starts of the season, two interceptions Sept. 30 against the Chargers and two more in a mortifying loss Oct. 7 to the Cardinals. Beathard patiently picked apart the Packers, at least most of the night.
He piled up these numbers against a solid defense. The Packers arrived at No. 4 in the NFL in total defense (313.8 yards per game), No. 4 in pass defense (208.8 yards) and tied for 10th in scoring defense (22.8 points).
They didn’t look the part against Beathard and Co.
By no means was Beathard perfect. He overthrew wide-open George Kittle on 3rd-and-4 early in the fourth quarter, with the 49ers marching (again). They had a chance to stretch their lead to two scores — a significant thing against Aaron Rodgers — but the incompletion forced San Francisco to settle for a field goal and 30-23 lead.
Later, on 3rd-and-11 late in the fourth quarter and the Packers having exhausted their timeouts, Beathard looked and looked for an open receiver. He staggered, slipped and took a sack. But, notably, he didn’t make a risky throw deep in his own territory.
Even so, Beathard was poised, decisive and accurate most of the night. He fired one laser-beam pass to Marquise Goodwin over the middle, then later lofted a long, sky-scraping pass to Goodwin for a 67-yard touchdown.
Velocity and touch, as the play demands. That’s one sign of a polished quarterback.
Beathard also showed his familiar penchant for scrambling out of trouble, risking life and limb in the name of moving the chains. He scrambled for nine yards on one first-quarter play, foolishly taking a hit when he had plenty of room to slide.
Then, in the second quarter, Beathard went all Rickey Henderson and slid head-first in a successful effort to pick up the first down. It was bold play, absolutely. That doesn’t change the reality: Head coach Kyle Shanahan needs to sit down with Beathard and order him to slide feet-first.
Or put another way: Jimmy G is not coming back, remember?
Beathard’s success Monday night traced, in part, to Shanahan’s shrewd play-calling and a productive running game. On the 49ers’ impressive opening drive, all three of Beathard’s pass attempts came on 2nd-and-short. That helps, when the defense doesn’t necessarily expect a pass.
Shanahan offered a nice mix between run and pass in the first half, and a tidy blend of plays attacking the middle of the field and others on the perimeter. The variety of players involved — Matt Breida and Raheem Mostert running the ball, Goodwin and Kyle Juszczyk and Kendrick Bourne all catching passes — kept the offense unpredictable.
All the while, Beathard looked strikingly comfortable and command. He looked like he belonged.
Monday night’s game marked the 49ers’ first visit to Lambeau Field since Jan. 5, 2014. That was the frigid, wild-card playoff game in which Colin Kaepernick (whatever happened to him?) led his team to a 23-20 victory, capped by Phil Dawson’s last-second field goal.
Two weeks later, Kaepernick and his team fell one maddening step short of returning to the Super Bowl. They lost to Seattle in the NFC Championship game, completing a stirring two-year run: 27-10-1, two trips to the conference title game, one appearance in the Super Bowl.
And in the four-plus years since then: four head coaches, no winning seasons, 22-48 record.
So, naturally, this 49ers-Packers rivalry — historically defined by sparkling quarterback play, from Joe Montana and Steve Young to Brett Favre and Rodgers — lost some luster. Then, on a chilly October night at Lambeau, it felt important again, thanks in part to one Beathard.
And, ultimately, Rodgers.
Ron Kroichick is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: rkroichick@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @ronkroichick
LINK: https://www.sfchronicle.com/sports/...rd-valiant-for-most-of-the-night-13309952.php