A demoralizing setback
Humbling loss puts S.F. record at 0-7 — 1st time since ’79 season
Facing a fourth down early in the third quarter Sunday, Kyle Shanahan bypassed a 46-yard field-goal attempt.
Instead, the 49ers’ rookie head coach called a play in which a rookie quarterback making his first NFL start threw a pass to an undrafted rookie wide receiver who had zero career catches.
The result: C.J. Beathard’s 4th-and-4 pass fell incomplete because Kendrick Bourne fell down mid-route.
On the next play, Dallas running back Ezekiel Elliott scored a 72-yard touchdown on a screen pass, The Cowboys took a 24-point lead and the final 26 minutes had zero suspense as the 49ers were overwhelmed 40-10 in their most lopsided loss in Levi’s Stadium history.
“I thought the game was getting away from us,” Shanahan said when asked about his decision with his team trailing 20-3. “I thought we needed to get a first down there and go in and score a touchdown. … Obviously, a big turning point in the game.”
Offered Beathard: “Obviously, had I known he was falling, I wouldn’t have thrown it there.”
The failed fourth down neatly captured the 49ers’ problems on a day in which they fell hard. The loss dropped them to 0-7 for the first time since 1979, was their worst home loss since 2009 and extended their franchise-record streak of
home losses to 10.
Even last year’s 2-14 disaster didn’t feature such a one-sided defeat: It was their worst loss since a 47-7 defeat at Arizona in 2015.
The good news? It often has been said that close losses are more excruciating than blowouts, and the 49ers had set an NFL record by losing their previous five games by three points or fewer.
There were no what-ifs after they trailed by 37 points early in the fourth quarter.
“We got whupped today,” wide receiver Trent Taylor said. “That’s all you can say about it.”
Indeed, the 49ers surrendered 501 yards and their offense managed just 71 more yards than Elliott (219 total yards), who finished with 147 rushing yards and three touchdowns.
Nine days after releasing inside linebacker NaVorro Bowman, the 49ers occasionally had safety Eric Reid line up at inside linebacker with rookie Reuben Foster. It was a way to get Reid on the field after Jaquiski Tartt took his starting spot when he was sidelined for three weeks with a knee injury.
Dallas, which features one of the NFL’s best offensive lines, rushed for 265 yards and averaged 6.2 yards a carry.
Said Foster: “When you’ve got a great offensive line like that, with a running back like that, it’s hard to defend.”
The 49ers, who have lost 24 of their past 27 games, probably would have to play errorfree to hang with Dallas (3-3), the defending NFC East champion.
And they didn’t come close, losing three turnovers and not getting any takeaways. Taylor fumbled on a punt return to set up a 20-yard touchdown drive early in the first quarter. Beathard lost two fumbles, including one when he was hit from the blindside on 2nd-and-goal from the 5-yard line just before halftime.
Shanahan suggested a cleaner performance could have made a blowout at least another competitive game.
“There’s a very fine line,” he said, “between being in a game, winning a game and getting your butt kicked.”
In his first NFL start, Beathard completed 22 of 38 passes for 235 yards, and had a 4-yard touchdown run. However, he was dropped for five sacks and the 49ers scored three points in the first 53-plus minutes.
“C.J. will learn from it,” Shanahan said. “He’s tough kid. By no means was he perfect. He did make some plays in the game and there were some he missed, too.”
Beathard, of course, missed his fourth-down throw to the stumbling Bourne. Beathard was on target with his answer when asked to assess his first NFL start.
“Obviously, according to the score, it didn’t go very well at all,” Beathard said. “You never want to lose a game 40-10.”