Well that was a mess and a costly one at that. The San Francisco 49ers came to Philadelphia down some men and are leaving down some more. The Niners lost 33-10 and fell to 0-8 which is the worst start in franchise history. But that really was not all that shocking. The Eagles are on fire, are now 7-1, and their quarterback may very well be the league’s MVP.
The real story of the game was injuries. Right tackle Trent Brown was inactive for the game due to a concussion, weakening an already weak offensive line. The second quarter made it worse with Brown’s replacement Garry Gilliam leaving the game with a knee injury and left tackle Joe Staley leaving with an eye injury. Staley’s orbital bone is being evaluated and could be broken. That would be really bad. Wide receiver Pierre Garçon left with a neck injury.
Meanwhile, over on the defensive side of the ball, where LB Reuben Foster was already inactive, defensive tackles Solomon Thomas and D.J. Jones both left the game with knee injuries and Jimmie Ward has a fractured forearm. Sigh.
It’s a miracle quarterback C.J. Beathard wasn’t injured, as he got sacked four times and was hit like a 100. Ok, not 100, but a lot. He also threw two interceptions, one being a pick-6. The sacks were a combination of bad protection and a lack of pocket awareness. Beathard is not the long-term answer at quarterback, but when he’s constantly running for his life, it’s hard to see what he’s got.
Head coach Kyle Shanahan praised his QB’s ability to stay focused even while getting beat up all day.
“C.J. played extremely tough,” said Shanahan. “We just have to work on getting better. Him and everyone around him.”
All things considered, the makeshift defense actually played a decent game, allowing 112 yards rushing, which was a massive improvement over last week. Also, rookie Ahkello Witherspoon positioned himself as the team’s potential starting corner moving forward, with this first interception of the game and solid coverage.
In bright spot news, running back Matt Breida had four receptions for 39 yards and his first NFL touchdown.
“I think we showed a lot more fight this week, as crazy as that sounds,” said Beathard.
Shanahan agreed.
“I felt a lot more fight and was a lot more proud of our guys than the week before,” said the rookie head coach.
And so, the beat goes on. The 49ers return home next week still looking for their first win and hoping it’s against the Arizona Cardinals.
“We have to get better,” said Shanahan. “We have to work on it. There’s no secret thing I can say.”
It is no secret. This team does indeed have to get better and healthy. Go Niners!
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