49ers-Cardinals preview: San Francisco, C.J. Beathard get “do-over” in Week 8
By Chris Wilson
49ers QB C.J. Beathard vs. QB Josh Rosen
Both 49ers quarterback Casey Jarrett Beathard and Cardinals QB Joshua Ballinger Lippincott Rosen have played poorly in 2018, but in different ways.
As a rookie, Josh Rosen is still attempting to acclimate himself to the speed of the professional game. However, it’s obvious that Rosen realized his limitations over his first few NFL games, as the QB was quick to throw the ball away — whether out of play, or simply toward an empty portion of the field — at the first sign of pressure.
This was quite evident during his first matchup with the 49ers, as his top priority was getting the ball out quickly, regardless if there was a potential receiver in the general vicinity of the pass attempt. This proved to be a viable strategy, as Rosen was able to record his first victory despite completing just 40 percent of his passes
In the last two weeks, Rosen has made more of an attempt to produce as a quarterback, which has led to four interceptions, 10 sacks and a pair of losses for his team. It’s obvious that Rosen isn’t a competent NFL quarterback at this stage in his career, but with just four starts with a bad offensive coordinator under his belt, it’s nearly impossible to determine whether he’ll become a franchise quarterback, or just the next Byron Leftwich:
| Passing | Rushing | Fumbles | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rk | Date | G# | Age | Tm | Opp | Result | GS | Cmp | Att | Cmp% | Yds | TD | Int | Rate | Sk | Yds | Y/A | AY/A | Att | Yds | Y/A | TD | Fmb | FF | FR | Yds | TD | |
| 1 | 2018-09-23 | 3 | 21 | ARI | CHI | L 14-16 | 4 | 7 | 57.14 | 36 | 0 | 1 | 31.5 | 1 | 7 | 5.14 | -1.29 | 1 | 12 | 12.00 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2 | 2018-09-30 | 4 | 21 | ARI | SEA | L 17-20 | * | 15 | 27 | 55.56 | 180 | 1 | 0 | 88.5 | 1 | 9 | 6.67 | 7.41 | 2 | 13 | 6.50 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| 3 | 2018-10-07 | 5 | 21 | ARI | @ | SFO | W 28-18 | * | 10 | 25 | 40.00 | 170 | 1 | 0 | 77.1 | 1 | 6 | 6.80 | 7.60 | 3 | -3 | -1.00 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | 2018-10-14 | 6 | 21 | ARI | @ | MIN | L 17-27 | * | 21 | 31 | 67.74 | 240 | 0 | 1 | 77.4 | 4 | 32 | 7.74 | 6.29 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | 2018-10-18 | 7 | 21 | ARI | DEN | L 10-45 | * | 21 | 39 | 53.85 | 194 | 1 | 3 | 44.2 | 6 | 40 | 4.97 | 2.03 | 1 | 14 | 14.00 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| 5 Games | 1-4 | 71 | 129 | 55.04 | 820 | 3 | 5 | 66.0 | 13 | 94 | 6.36 | 5.08 | 7 | 36 | 5.14 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
Provided by Pro-Football-Reference.com: View Original Table
49ers quarterback C.J. Beathard continues to frustrate coaches and fans, as the second-year QB alternates between flashy plays and game-losing turnovers — when he isn’t getting sacked out of field goal range on third down.
While Rosen has reasonable excuses for his mistakes and lack of development, Beathard does not. The Iowa product has the benefit of an excellent offensive coordinator who has helped pad his stats, as well as previous playing time in 2017 and a full offseason with the team.
Each game he gives away via turnovers further decreases his chances of a viable future in the league. Beathard has shown that he has the physical tools to play at this level, but quarterbacks who turn the ball over at Beathard’s current rate have short NFL careers:
| Passing | Rushing | Scoring | Fumbles | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rk | Date | G# | Age | Tm | Opp | Result | GS | Cmp | Att | Cmp% | Yds | TD | Int | Rate | Sk | Yds | Y/A | AY/A | Att | Yds | Y/A | TD | TD | Pts | Fmb | FF | FR | Yds | TD | |
| 1 | 2018-09-23 | 3 | 24 | SFO | @ | KAN | L 27-38 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| 2 | 2018-09-30 | 4 | 24 | SFO | @ | LAC | L 27-29 | * | 23 | 37 | 62.16 | 298 | 2 | 2 | 82.9 | 1 | 10 | 8.05 | 6.70 | 7 | 19 | 2.71 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 0 |
| 3 | 2018-10-07 | 5 | 24 | SFO | ARI | L 18-28 | * | 34 | 54 | 62.96 | 349 | 2 | 2 | 78.4 | 4 | 49 | 6.46 | 5.54 | 2 | 7 | 3.50 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 4 | 2018-10-15 | 6 | 24 | SFO | @ | GNB | L 30-33 | * | 16 | 23 | 69.57 | 245 | 2 | 1 | 115.3 | 2 | 18 | 10.65 | 10.43 | 3 | 21 | 7.00 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | 2018-10-21 | 7 | 24 | SFO | LAR | L 10-39 | * | 15 | 27 | 55.56 | 170 | 1 | 2 | 56.1 | 7 | 49 | 6.30 | 3.70 | 2 | 13 | 6.50 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | -3 | 0 | |
| 5 Games | 0-5 | 88 | 141 | 62.41 | 1062 | 7 | 7 | 81.3 | 14 | 126 | 7.53 | 6.29 | 14 | 60 | 4.29 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 5 | 0 | 0 | -4 | 0 |
Provided by Pro-Football-Reference.com: View Original Table