San Francisco 49ers rookie quarterback C.J. Beathard replaced an ineffective Brian Hoyer in the second quarter of Sunday's game against the Washington Redskins. With the 49ers trailing by a score of 14-0, Hoyer had completed just four of his 11 passes for 34 yards before being benched in favor of Beathard.
While Beathard did give the 49ers offense the spark needed to engineer a comeback, San Francisco ended up losing the game 26-24. It was the 49ers' unprecedented fifth-straight loss of three-or-fewer points, which has never happened before in NFL history, and their sixth-straight loss of the season as the team remains winless.
Beathard ended the game completing 19 of his 36 pass attempts for 245 yards, a touchdown, and the interception that ended the game.
49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan addressed the media following the loss and declared that Beathard has taken the starting job away from Hoyer. Beathard will be the 49ers' starting quarterback going forward.
"C.J.'s had a good week of practice," Shanahan said. "He's put two good weeks together and I had a feeling going in, if it went like that, had to make the move, give us a chance to win."
What did Shanahan think of Beatahrd's performance against Washington?
"I thought he came in and competed," Shanahan said. "By no means were things perfect but the game's not too big for the guy. He comes in, doesn't hesitate. He's extremely tough. Came in there, gave us a little bit of spark. Made a few off-schedule plays, which was nice. The main thing is, we'll watch the film. It wasn't perfect but when you've got a tough guy who hangs in there and competes, I think he'll learn from it too."
Shanahan said that he just wants to see Beathard work at getting better going forward.
"Any time you get those valuable reps, especially as a rookie, you're going to have some good plays (and) you're going to have some bad plays," Shanahan said. "It's how you respond to those that makes these NFL quarterbacks and gives them a career."
The 49ers' next game will be on October 22 at Levi's Stadium when they face the Dallas Cowboys.
