The main story heading into this game for the San Francisco 49ers was how C.J. Beathard was going to respond to being thrust into the starting lineup due to the season-ending injury to Jimmy Garoppolo.
The 49ers had the ball in the waning minutes just needing a field goal to win, but Beathard threw an interception to give the Los Angeles Chargers a 29-27 victory.
San Francisco 49ers Week Four Loss Drops Them to 1-3
It’s certainly not going to get any easier for the 49ers going forward. Injuries are majorly affecting this team early on this season.
Besides Garoppolo, the defense has already suffered some important losses. Richard Sherman and Jaquiski Tartt didn’t play this game.
The offense suffered more bad luck on Sunday as well. Joe Staley and Dante Pettis exited this game and did not return.
With this loss to the Chargers, the 49ers have fallen to 1-3 and now seem to be on the verge of letting their season completely slip away.
Beathard Shows Flashes, but Makes Costly Mistakes
It was a mixed bag for Beathard in his first start of the year. He looked solid for much of the game, but also committed a couple costly turnovers that probably cost his team a victory.
The first one was an interception on a first and goal from the eight-yard line with nine minutes left in the third quarter.
The 49ers looked poised to at least tack three points on the board, and possibly come away with seven points to retake the lead.
Instead, a deflected pass intended for Garret Celek was intercepted by Trevor Williams and returned for 86 yards.
The 49ers defense responded by clamping down and holding the Chargers offense to a field goal, but it was still a demoralizing point swing to put the Chargers up 26-17.
The second crucial mistake from Beathard happened on the final offensive drive of the game for the 49ers when they had a chance to march down the field and kick a field goal for the win.
On their own 31-yard line with about two and a half minutes remaining in the game, Beathard was hit as he threw a pass intended for Alfred Morris.
The pass was picked off by Isaac Rochell and returned to the 49ers 19-yard line, essentially icing the game.
Beathard had a chance to win the game for the 49ers and instead turned the ball over. The 49ers started that final drive a long way back on their own seven, but they only needed to get into field goal range to set themselves up for a victory.
All things considered, Beathard played decently. He went 23/37 for 298 yards, two touchdowns, and two interceptions while putting up an 82.9 passer rating.
Despite the key mistakes, Beathard generally played well enough to give the 49ers some comfort going forward with him as the starter.
The 49ers were actually up 14-0 with under four minutes left in the first quarter after Beathard hit Kendrick Bourne for a two-yard touchdown pass.
With a cushion like that, all Beathard would have had to do is just not make any mistakes and play a game manager role the rest of the way if the defense had played more effectively.
The defense didn’t hold up its end of the bargain, though, and forced Beathard to need to make big plays near the end of the game to pull off a win.
That’s not an ideal situation to put a normally backup quarterback in. The turnover on that crucial drive certainly raises the question of whether Beathard is capable of leading game-winning drives in crunch time if presented with the opportunity.
It’s way different to ask a quarterback to come from behind than just manage a lead. The defense has a responsibility to not turn the game into a shootout and put too much of a load on Beathard.
The red zone issues were very apparent as well. A team like the 49ers can’t afford to leave points off the board, and they went just 1/4 on their red zone attempts, with one of those being the debilitating interception that resulted in a Chargers field goal.
Kittle Has Another Impressive Game
Beathard’s numbers were helped by a nice 82-yard touchdown pass to George Kittle with just under three minutes to go in the third quarter.
Kittle continues to show that he has the potential to be one of the upper echelon tight ends in this league if his hands ever improve.
The speed he showed in the open field after making that catch is more evidence that he could be a truly great player in this league.
Kittle finished the game with six catches and a game-leading 125 receiving yards. Through the first four games, he leads the 49ers in catches and yards.
49ers Defense Struggles with Missed Tackles
Costly turnovers aside, to put the blame squarely on Beathard for this loss is looking at the game too narrowly.
There were numerous instances on defense where the 49ers simply couldn’t wrap up the guy with the ball, and drives were extended.
It’s a shame because the defense looked exceptional through the first couple series of the game before the Chargers offense was eventually able to find a rhythm.
Philip Rivers bounced back nicely from throwing a pick-six to Antone Exum on the Chargers opening drive to have a great game.
He started off 0/4 with an interception but managed to salvage a good performance out of that horrendous start.
He finished 25/39 for 250 yards and three touchdowns and a 97.2 passer rating. Each of his three touchdown passes went to different players.
Antonio Gates caught a touchdown in the first quarter, Austin Ekeler caught one in the second quarter, and Melvin Gordon caught the final one in the third quarter.
The 49ers defense came into this game leading the league in missed tackles, and they had the same problems against this Chargers offense.
Gordon ran for 104 yards on just 15 carries, with much of that damage coming after the first hit put on him.
Missing tackles in abundance like that indicate a lack of fundamentals and ultimately keeps the defense out on the field longer.
The unit gets more and more exhausted the longer they’re out on the field, which results in even more missed tackles. It’s a vicious cycle.
49ers Didn’t Get the Running Game Going
It was interesting how much the 49ers threw the ball with an inexperienced quarterback in a game where they spent the vast majority of the time either in the lead or within striking distance.
Beathard threw the ball 37 times while running backs Matt Breida and Morris only combined for 13 carries.
Breida came into this week tied for the league lead in rushing yards, and it’s disappointing that they weren’t able to incorporate the running game more effectively against a defense that had struggled against the run in their last three games.
The Chargers defense came into this week giving up the ninth-most rushing yards per game with 120.3 yards, but the 49ers were able to rush for just 76 yards this game.
The running game is clearly the strength of the 49ers offense at this stage of the season, and Beathard needs a solid rushing attack to lean on to make his job easier.
