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49ers vs. Eagles: The good, bad and ugly from Week 8 loss to Philadelphia

By Peter Panacy

PHILADELPHIA, PA - OCTOBER 29: C.J. Beathard #3 of the San Francisco 49ers is tackled for no gain by the Philadelphia Eagles after trying to covert on third down in the third quarter during their game at Lincoln Financial Field on October 29, 2017 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images)
PHILADELPHIA, PA - OCTOBER 29: C.J. Beathard #3 of the San Francisco 49ers is tackled for no gain by the Philadelphia Eagles after trying to covert on third down in the third quarter during their game at Lincoln Financial Field on October 29, 2017 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images) /
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PHILADELPHIA, PA – OCTOBER 29: Mack Hollins #10 of the Philadelphia Eagles reacts after completing a pass for a first down against the San Francisco 49ers in the second quarter against the San Francisco 49ers during their game at Lincoln Financial Field on October 29, 2017 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images)
PHILADELPHIA, PA – OCTOBER 29: Mack Hollins #10 of the Philadelphia Eagles reacts after completing a pass for a first down against the San Francisco 49ers in the second quarter against the San Francisco 49ers during their game at Lincoln Financial Field on October 29, 2017 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images) /

The Bad

Where to start?

While the 49ers defense was holding its own early in the game, head coach Kyle Shanahan’s offense couldn’t get anything going for the vast majority of four quarters. It was only a matter of time before the Eagles wore down San Francisco’s defense en route to the 33 points scored.

And when this is the Niners’ offensive start, one can see why:

Third-Down Efficiency

There are a lot of things to pick apart that went badly for the 49ers offense. But chief among them is the inability for San Francisco to convert on third downs.

Entering the game, the Niners ranked 29th in third-down success (32.7 percent). A 3-of-15 mark in Week 8 won’t help matters much at all.

If there’s a slight bright spot, though, San Francisco’s defense held Philadelphia to four conversions on 14 attempts. But as the story went, the Niners offense couldn’t get any rhythm, putting this stat into the “needless” category.

Quarterback C.J. Beathard

While Brian Hoyer clearly isn’t the answer for the 49ers at quarterback, two full weeks of evidence is showing rookie QB C.J. Beathard isn’t either.

Beathard had yet another poor outing, going 17-of-36 for just 167 yards, a touchdown against two interceptions all for a passer rating of 46.9. And that one touchdown, a shovel pass to running back Matt Breida, was due more to Breida’s efforts than those of Beathard.

Instead, we saw more of the same from Beathard — poor pocket awareness and constantly throwing behind his receivers.

Barring injury, though, there’s no way Shanahan can go back to Hoyer at this point.

Cornerback Rashard Robinson

After such a poor start to the season, it’s no surprise the 49ers elected to demote cornerback Rashard Robinson in favor of the rookie, Ahkello Witherspoon.

Witherspoon’s day included his first-career interception, as well as giving up a 53-yard touchdown to Eagles wideout Alshon Jeffery. So there’s both good and bad there, although Witherspoon’s promotion doesn’t bode well for Robinson.

Especially when Robinson still ended up being flagged for two separate penalties on special teams.