SF 49ers: Counting down the top 10 plays of 2020 season

SF 49ers Top Play No. 9: The Kendrick Bourne Hail Mary

The C.J. Beathard-Kendrick Bourne connection struck again.

The SF 49ers were coming off a devastating loss in Week 14 to the Washington Football Team that effectively ended their playoff hopes. No. 2 quarterback Nick Mullens had two costly turnovers in a game the Niners defense had kept close. At 5-8, they would need to win their final three games of the season just to finish .500.

But it was not to be. A week after the embarrassment versus Washington, the Dallas Cowboys dropped 41 points on San Francisco, and Mullens once again had three costly turnovers in a 41-33 loss at AT&T Stadium.

Yet there was still enough room for one last Bourne highlight.

Late in the fourth quarter, Mullens suffered an injury to his elbow and was replaced by Beathard, and the latter proceeded to go 5-of-7 for 100 yards in relief.

But it was this play that will stick out to Niner fans, even in a loss:

Beathard dropped back on the last play of the game, tossing a 60-yard bomb into a crowd in the end zone only to have, you guessed who, Bourne haul it in for a touchdown. And while it didn’t change the outcome of the game or the SF 49ers’ playoff chances, Hail Mary catches are still exciting plays.

It’s akin to an inside-the-park home run in baseball, even if it’s in a losing effort.