Third-string QB throws 3 TDs, 49ers stun Cardinals
GLENDALE, ARIZ. » The San Francisco 49ers limped into Saturday’s game with no more playoff hopes and a group that included thirdstring quarterback C. J. Beathard, unheralded running back Jeff Wilson and several defensive backups.
Then they went out and pushed around the Arizona Cardinals anyway.
Beathard threw three touchdown passes, Wilson ran for 183 yards, and San Francisco dealt a brutal blow to Arizona’s playoff hopes by beating them 20-12.
For the 49ers, the win was all about pride for a team that went to the Super Bowl last year, but has endured a 2020 that’s fallen well short of expectations.
49ers coach Kyle Shanahan
wasn’t surprised by the gritty performance.
“We’re not proud of our record, we’d like to be better, but that doesn’t tell the story of who we are,” Shanahan said.
Because of the loss, the Cardinals (8-7) no longer control their own destiny in the playoff race. If the Chicago Bears win their final two games, they will reach the playoffs because of a tiebreaker over the Cardinals.
Beathard was making his first start since 2018 and was 1-9 as a starting quarterback before he was pressed into action against the Cardinals because of injuries to Jimmy Garoppolo and Nick Mullens.
It’s been a difficult past 12 months for Beathard, whose brother Clayton was fatally stabbed last December outside a bar in Nashville, Tennessee. The quarterback is
popular among his teammates because of his upbeat personality despite personal and football setbacks.
“That’s why people don’t mind breaking their neck for him,” Wilson said.
Beathard wasn’t amazing on Saturday but avoided big mistakes. He
completed 13 of 22 passes for 182 yards, Wilson earned hard yards on the ground and the 49ers came up with two big defensive stops late in the fourth quarter, including Ahkello Witherspoon’s interception of Kyler Murray’s pass in the end zone.
“I think CJ played awesome,” Shanahan said. “I thought he made some plays in the pass game, made some in the zone read ... Just his leadership out there, the way the guys gravitated to him.”
Arizona started the day positioned as the No. 7 and final team in the NFC playoff field, but the game was a struggle from the outset. The 49ers (6-9) pulled ahead 14- 6 in the third quarter on Beathard’s 9-yard touchdown pass to fullback Kyle Juszczyk.
Arizona scored its first and only touchdown early in the fourth quarter when Kenyan Drake jumped on top of a pile and stretched his arm just far enough for a 1-yard touchdown. Murray couldn’t connect with DeAndre Hopkins on the 2-point conversion and the 49ers still led 14-12.