Staley hurt in 0-8 start to season
PHILADELPHIA — Perhaps the most disastrous play of the 49ers’ nightmare season occurred just before halftime Sunday as Philadelphia cornerback Jalen Mills was zigzagging across the field en route to an interception return for a touchdown.
As Mills ran, Joe Staley fell. Hard.
The 49ers’ Pro Bowl left tackle was blasted by defensive tackle Fletcher Cox, whose hit left Staley face down on the field. Eventually, Staley slowly walked off with a bloody gash under his right eye that knocked him out of the game, required stitches and sent him to a hospital for X-rays.
To sum up: In 14 seconds, the 49ers effectively lost the game — Mills’ score gave the Eagles a 17-point lead — and one of the few standout players on their roster.
The sight of blood trickling down Staley’s cheek was the image that best captured the 49ers’ 33-10 loss to Philadelphia, a defeat that dropped them to 0-8 for the first time in the franchise’s 72-season history.
How horrendous is this season? After the thrashing, head coach Kyle Shanahan said this: “I think guys did take a step forward from last week with a few things, especially on defense.”
Sadly, Shanahan was right. Sunday’s beatdown by Philadelphia (7-1) wasn’t nearly as embarrassing as the 30-point humiliation his team had endured the previous Sunday against Dallas.
How can the 49ers find motivation with two months and eight games of a historically awful season remaining? Shanahan made it clear: They should be motivated to keep their jobs.
“There’s no secret thing I can say about that,” Shanahan said. “Guys who get better will help us. If you don’t, you’re going to get worse and it’s going to be tough to be a part of this.”
After Sunday, however, it’s fair to wonder how many healthy players will be a part of this when the season ends.
The 49ers, who were already dealing with attrition issues, had seven players who didn’t finish the game because of injury. Among that group was backup right tackle Garry Gilliam (knee), who was replacing inactive starter Trent Brown (concussion).
As a result, they played the last two-plus quarters with just five healthy offensive linemen. Guard Zane Beadles, who hadn’t played since he was benched after Week 1, finished at left tackle. And undrafted rookie Erik Magnuson, who had not played an NFL snap before Sunday, played right tackle.
Magnuson’s welcome-tothe-NFL-moment came immediately after he entered with 1:24 left in the second quarter. He found himself staring at defensive end Brandon Graham, 29, an All-American and Big Ten Most Valuable Player from his alma mater.
“I was in my stance and it was Brandon Graham,” Magnuson said. “I went to Michigan. He went to Michigan. I remember seeing his pictures all over the football building and stuff like that. I was just like, ‘All right, let’s go. Let’s see what happens.’ ”
Not surprisingly, given the makeshift nature of the 49ers’ front five, not much happened worth remembering in quarterback C.J. Beathard’s second NFL start.
Beathard was dropped for four sacks, was hit 12 times and had six run-for-his life scrambles. The domination up front was best illustrated when Beathard tried a sneak on 3rd-and-1 in the third quarter and was tossed back nearly to New Jersey.
“I’m sure tomorrow,” Beathard said, “I’ll be awfully sore.”
Observed wide receiver Pierre Garcon of Beathard’s afternoon: “I saw him running a lot.”
Beathard completed 17 of 36 passes for 167 yards with a touchdown, and tossed two unsightly second-quarter interceptions. First, he threw behind Aldrick Robinson on a slant route and the pass clanged off the wideout and into the hands of Rodney McLeod. Later, Beathard telegraphed a short sideline pass that Mills returned for a 37-yard score to give the Eagles a 17-0 lead.
“C.J. was battling,” Shanahan said. “He was in some real tough situations. By no means did he do perfect. There were some plays he missed. But it was a tough game and tough situations to put him in. He never shied away from anything. He played extremely tough. He’s just got to work on getting better.”
The 49ers have lost 22 of their past 23 games and haven’t beaten a team besides the Rams since Dec. 6, 2015.
For Garcon, who signed with the 49ers in March, it has been a rugged experience with his new team.
“You learn a lot from losing,” Garcon said. “When you’re winning, you think you’re on top of the world. But you learn a lot more from losing.”
If true, perhaps that’s the lone bright spot for this team: No team in franchise history has learned more in its first eight games than the 2017 49ers.