SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- The stage was set for San Francisco 49ers rookie quarterback C.J. Beathard to have the kind of fairy-tale first start that would give him and the Niners a nice memory in an otherwise lost season.
After three weeks on the road, the 49ers finally returned to Levi's Stadium. The opponent was a historical rival in the Dallas Cowboys, and the Niners happened to be honoring franchise legend Dwight Clark and hosting more than 30 alumni from the team's Super Bowl XVI team as part of the proceedings. Included in those in attendance was another fairly well-known third-round quarterback, Hall of Famer Joe Montana.
Alas, if there's one lesson Beathard and the Niners can take from their first seven games of this season, it's this: The NFL has a harsh way of taking a feel-good script and turning it to dust.
That's precisely what happened Sunday as the Cowboys came to town along with plenty of their fans and ran roughshod over the Niners in a 40-10 victory. Unlike in the past month-plus, when the 49ers became the first team in league history to lose by three points or fewer in five straight games, this one was never close.
"It was disappointing," coach Kyle Shanahan said. "I think all three phases, players and coaches, we’ve got to play better than that, a lot better to give ourselves a chance to win.”
In dropping to 0-7 on the season, the 49ers seemed to get off to a good start by forcing Dallas to go three-and-out on the opening possession, but that was really the high point of the day on the field and it happened 45 seconds into the game.
From there, San Francisco punt returner Trent Taylor coughed up the ensuing return, Dallas recovered and running back Ezekiel Elliott cashed it in three plays later. Before Beathard even got on the field, his team was down 7-0, and before the offense even managed a first down, it was 14-0.
Considering Beathard was making his first start, it was safe to assume Dallas had already intended to throw a variety of defensive looks and blitzes in his direction. With an early lead, Dallas only increased the pressure. And though Beathard lived up to his billing as tough and unafraid, he often looked overmatched, along with the rest of the offense.
Dallas, which normally plays a fairly straightforward defense, came at Beathard with all it had. According to ESPN Stats & Information, the Cowboys blitzed Beathard on 21 of his 45 dropbacks, their highest blitz percentage in a game since 2011. They managed three sacks when bringing five or more and pressured Beathard on 48 percent of those dropbacks.
“When you’re a rookie, obviously, you’re new to a system," Beathard said. "Trying to see what you know. Puts you on your heels a little bit. After we realized that was kind of their deal, I think we settled in. You just never know what you’re going to get. You just got to be ready and prepare for anything.”
As pressure engulfed him from all over, Beathard was dropped for five total sacks and six more quarterback hits, according to unofficial press box statistics. Much of that could be attributed to shoddy protection, but some of it also stemmed from Beathard's knack for holding onto the ball too long. Perhaps too eager to make something happen, Beathard stood in a firm pocket but didn't get rid of the ball, only to take a sack on at least two occasions.
All told, Beathard finished 22-of-38 for 235 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions for a passer rating of 76.1. Those numbers bore a resemblance to what Beathard did in two and a half quarters against the Redskins last week but without many of the positives.
Beathard fumbled twice when he was sacked and was unable to lead the 49ers into the end zone until his 4-yard scoring run with 6:14 left in the game. Shanahan also attempted to take advantage of Beathard's athleticism (at least relative to Brian Hoyer) with mixed results. Beathard did have that touchdown and 16-yard run on a zone read, but he also found little room to run on other attempts, finishing with 30 carries for 5 yards.
“Good or bad, playing, C.J. will learn from it," Shanahan said. "He’s a tough kid. By no means was he perfect. He did make some plays in the game and there were some he missed too. It was similar to last week. I think he’ll learn from those. I think he came out early, got settled down a little bit as we got going. Unfortunately, we didn’t keep the score close to keep them in it and stick with some of the stuff we wanted to. But the type of kid C.J. is, the type of competitor he is, it’s going to be good tomorrow to get to sit down and watch the tape with him and really coach him up.”
Realistically, nobody expected Beathard to come in and be a panacea for the Niners or their offense. From the moment Shanahan made the change last week, he did it knowing the rookie quarterback would have his share of bumpy moments over the final 10 games. Beathard provided a spark in that game. This week was more of a fizzle. There will be more of each in the coming weeks.
That's all part of the process of trying to determine what the Niners have in Beathard before potentially chasing a quarterback in the offseason. But Sunday offered a reminder for anyone hoping Beathard could be a long-term solution that there's a lot of work to do to even make that a serious conversation.