C.J. Beathard on win: ‘You couldn’t write a script for this’

By Art Spander

It didn’t mean much, this 49ers victory. Then again, it meant so very much.

It meant a team that had lost too many players with injuries and too many games — including the previous three — could show that the talent and courage clearly hadn’t been lost.

It meant C.J. Beathard, who a year ago had lost a brother, slain outside a Nashville bar during an altercation, could, with a belief in religion and his own skills, step out of the shadows and quarterback the Niners to a 20-12 upset victory over the Arizona Cardinals.

It does no good to wonder what might have been, in life or sport, but so often that’s the way we think. What happens, happens, often for the worst. Occasionally for the best.

Let’s listen to Beathard, who in his fourth season with the 49ers and his role as third-string QB, cut the long hair he had worn in memory of his brother and then Saturday at State Farm Stadium not far from Phoenix threw three touchdown passes and the Cards for a loop.

All Arizona (now 8-7) had to do for a spot in the playoffs was beat the Niners (now 6-9), as it did in the opening game of the season.

It did not, because the Niners' defense was remarkable, because the offense was dependable, because C.J. (for Casey Jarrett) was reliable. If you choose to think there was a bit of magic involved, well, Beathard will not disagree.

“This means more than I can really put into words,” said Beathard. ”Everything I’ve been through this year. The year anniversary of my brother’s passing. I just couldn’t write a script for this.

“I couldn’t pick things to go the way they did. The vibe in the locker room at practice when I got out there, it was if I had nothing to lose.”

You know the background, the numerous starters from last year’s Super Bowl team getting hurt week after week, especially on defense. The Buffalo Bills threw TD pass after TD pass against the 49ers. And of course, starting quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo was gone with another leg injury, and then a week ago Sunday his replacement, Nick Mullens, incurred an injury to his passing arm.

Up stepped Beathard, who hadn’t started in two years.

The coaches call the plays, but they also call upon the guy who takes the ball from the center.

“People don’t know how much is on the quarterback’s plate,” said Niners fullback Kyle Juszczyk. “Every time we call a run, we’re calling two plays. It’s on the quarterback to decide on (reading) the defense. So much goes into the execution. I’m so excited with the job he did.”

And the job running back Jeff Wilson did, 183 yards on 22 attempts.

Or the defense did, limiting the Cardinals, the NFL’s third-ranked offense, to 350 yards (it was averaging 399) and of course, two field goals and a touchdown.

There was a missed extra point on the TD, something that seemed to be unavoidable. The Niners' consistent Robbie Gould missed one, after missing a 41-yard field goal, his first failure after 31 in a row.

Tight end George Kittle, he of the good humor and great blocking, returned after being out for weeks, and his presence helped as much as his play. “Practice was different with him there,” said head coach Kyle Shanahan.

“We didn’t have many guys left,” Shanahan added, referring to his lack of defenders, “but the people there were an inspiration. It came down to the final plays (when Arizona’s Kyler Murray was throwing deep).

“We didn’t tap out. We made the plays.”

And won a game, just as if it would have been scripted.

Niners lose ball and game to the only team that hadn’t won

By Art Spander

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — The clues were as obvious as the footballs bouncing on the grass — and picked up by the opposition. And, in one case, run back for a touchdown.

If you lose the ball, which the 49ers did, then you lose the game. Which the 49ers also did.

Do turnovers make bad teams? Or do bad teams make turnovers? This is not so much a conundrum as a gentle way of saying that, right now, the San Francisco 49ers are a mess. They were beaten by the only team in the NFL that until Sunday had beaten no one else.

But if you give away the ball five times, twice on interceptions and thrice on fumbles, you’re going to lose to anyone and everyone, so it’s no surprise that the Niners were stopped, 28-18, by the Arizona Cardinals and that both Arizona the Niners are 1-4.

The surprise is that until the end, San Francisco was in the game, in a manner of speaking. And another surprise will be if the 49ers can win one of their next two games, Monday night at Green Bay and then a week from Sunday back here at Levi’s Stadium against the overwhelming Los Angeles Rams.

“We doubled their time of possession,” said 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan — 40 minutes, 12 seconds to a virtual 20 minutes. “Our defense played its tail off. You look at a lot of things, it’s hard to find out how we lose this game. Then it’s very easy: turnovers.”

Especially one of them, a 23-yard fumble return by Cardinals linebacker Josh Byrnes, who picked up the ball after Niners quarterback C.J. Beathard was sacked and lost it on his own 33. The ball bounced, Byrnes grabbed it, and, yikes, with 4:41 to play Arizona grabbed a 21-12 lead — and the game.

Asked how many of the turnovers could be blamed on Beathard, the second-year quarterback who is filling in for the injured Jimmy Garoppolo, Shanahan did his best not to throw Beathard under the bus. He merely tossed him under one of those motorized scooters.

“I mean he’s the quarterback,” said the coach. “It’s his responsibility to protect the ball. But 10 other guys should make it easier on him. Usually fumbles are hard to pin on the quarterback.”

The Niners lost several starters, including halfback Matt Breida, a strong blocker as well as a fine runner. But pro football is a game of injuries, and the slogan is “Next man up.” Every player in the locker room is capable, or he wouldn’t be there.

“You can’t win ballgames turning the ball over five times,” Beathard confirmed. “I feel like we played well in all the other aspects except turnovers. Just got to take better care of the ball.”

Beathard didn’t quite know what happened when he was sacked by Byrnes, and the ball was returned for a score.

“I was trying to get the ball to (wide receiver) Trent Taylor,” said Beathard, “and he was getting held. I decided to wait a little bit. The guy hit the ball out of my hands and that was it. Just got to get the ball out quicker.”

Maybe Beathard is what we see. Surely the Niners would have thought more of him or they wouldn’t have signed Garoppolo, who was seen as a savior. Bur the savior is done until next year after knee surgery, so for better or worse it’s Beathard’s baby.

And Shanahan’s worry. After an 0-9 start last year as a rookie coach, Shanahan, and the Niners, finished with five straight wins. Yes, Garoppolo was in charge. Now he’s not.

“Last year it was frustrating to start that way,” said Shanahan, answering a question. “And we don’t like to lose. We put a lot of work into this. Every Sunday we come out confident, and we expect to win. We’ve come up short a number of times.

“I told our team we’d love to be 5-0 right now, and we’re not. We know why we lose each game. We fought hard, but when you have five turnovers it’s borderline impossible.”

The word borderline is not applicable. It’s simply impossible. As the Niners proved.