Photo credit: espn.com

By Jeremy Harness

The 49ers were certainly up against it facing a very good Los Angeles Chargers defense with a backup quarterback that has not shown much in his young NFL career, but C.J Beathard rose to the occasion. Well, sort of.

After going 1-4 last season as a starting quarterback before Jimmy Garoppolo took over, Beathard gave a very good account of himself on Sunday, keeping the 49ers in the game until the very end. However, the end result was another loss that dropped them to 1-3, this time going down 29-27 at the StubHub Center.

Beathard completed 23 of his 37 throws for 298 yards and a pair of touchdowns. However, he was also tagged with a pair of interceptions, the last one coming on the 49ers’ final possession of the game and thwarted a chance for at least a game-winning field goal, the interception coming as his arm was hit as he threw.

His main target on Sunday was tight end George Kittle, who hauled in six passes for 125 yards and a touchdown, with a few more of those catches putting the 49ers deep in Chargers territory and set up scores later. Pierre Garcon also got into the act, catching four balls for 52 yards.

However, they didn’t get much from their running game. Matt Breida was the leading rusher with 39 yards on nine carries, while Beathard was the second-leading runner with 19 yards on seven dashes.

The 49ers got out to a 14-0 lead when safety Antone Exum, who was questionable for Sunday’s game with a thigh bruise, picked off Philip Rivers and returned it 32 yards for a touchdown, and Kendrick Bourne caught a short touchdown pass in the back of the end zone.

However, the lead would not last long, as Rivers picked away at the lead before the two teams went into their respective locker rooms with a 17-17 tie at halftime.

The Chargers grabbed the lead when Rivers passed to Melvin Gordon for a 6-yard touchdown and would have had more if Beathard was not able to track down cornerback Trevor Williams after a long interception return. The Chargers still got the ball deep in 49ers territory, but the defebse was able to hold them to a field goal.

Later in the quarter, the 49ers struck quickly as Beathard found Kittle over the middle, and he made a couple of nifty moves and beat the Chargers secondary to the end zone for an 82-yard score to get the 49ers right back into the game.

Robbie Gould kicked a 33-yard field goal early in the fourth to give the 49ers the lead, but five minutes later, Caleb Sturgis came back with a 21-yard field goal to re-gain the advantage for the Chargers.

Meanwhile, the never-ending injury saga continues to haunt the 49ers. A week after losing Garoppolo for the season with an ACL tear in his left knee, the 49ers had two more key players leave Sunday’s game.

Rookie receiver-kick returner Dante Pettis suffered a knee injury on his first punt return of the game in the first quarter and did not return. One quarter later, left tackle Joe Staley also left the game with a knee injury of his own and did not return, either.