Beathard completed 19 of 36 passes for 245 yards, a touchdown and an interception in Sunday's 26-24 loss to Washington. After the game, head coach Kyle Shanahan called Beathard the 49ers' starting quarterback, Matt Barrows of The Sacramento Bee reports.
After San Francisco failed to move the ball at least 25 yards in the team's first four offensive drives, Beathard came in for Brian Hoyer and came close to leading a comeback from a 14-0 deficit, including a 75-yard touchdown drive on his second possession under center. Beathard's stats took a bit of a hit at the very end of the game when he forced a ball down field with the 49ers in desperation mode, but he still finished with a higher quarterback rating than Brian Hoyer has posted in four of his six starts. Moreover, San Francisco scored more in a little over a half with Beathard than in four of its first five full games. The 49ers are now winless and seem on the verge of potentially competing for Kirk Cousins or drafting a quarterback early next offseason. It makes sense to see what they have in their rookie -- who Shanahan has notably compared to Cousins -- as opposed to hobble down the stretch with Hoyer.