49ers vs. Cardinals: Grading San Francisco’s Week 4 efforts
Quarterback
Barring the Week 3 game against the Los Angeles Rams, Brian Hoyer has been awful. It seems Hoyer has regressed back to the mean with the 18-15 loss to the Cardinals.
It was bad today for the 31-year-old quarterback. At one point, Hoyer was completing just 46.3% of his passes. Hoyer finished 24-49 passing for 234 yards and one interception, marking the fourth consecutive game he has thrown an interception.
Most notably, the 49ers had 13 total drives and scored just 15 points. Not ideal. The offensive ineptitude is starting to become glaring. Soon, Hoyer is going to have start turning in some real impressive games before Kyle Shanahan begins pondering the idea of rookie C.J. Beathard at quarterback.
Grade: C
Running back
So far just about the only bright spot on the San Francisco offense, Carlos Hyde continued his strong start to the season with a 68-yard rushing effort. Hyde only had 16 carries, and averaged 4.3 yards per rush.
Hyde also added five receptions for 27 yards. While it wasn’t the most efficient day, it was still a nice game from Hyde. Of note: oddly enough, Hyde only had 11 rushes at one point in the game when he was averaging five yards a carry. I believe he should have been fed more often during that span, but he was on the sidelines at various points.
Grade: B
Wide receivers/Tight end
For the 49ers wide receivers, catches were hard to come by against the Cardinals. No receiver had more than five receptions, and no receiver eclipsed 53 yards. Patrick Peterson certainly played a part in that, limiting No. 1 option Pierre Garçon to four receptions for 36 yards.
While the yardage is low, rookie Trent Taylor had another good game. Taylor recorded five receptions for 47 yards. I think Taylor is starting to overtake Goodwin as the No. 2 receiver in terms of targets, and it’s deserving.
Tight end George Kittle had two receptions for 35 yards, and Logan Paulsen dropped a crucial pass.