Report card: Young 49ers get F in flop against Dallas

Offense: Perhaps rookie quarterback C.J. Beathard must develop better pocket awareness, but his blockers didn’t give him much help. He was sacked five times, hit hard on half a dozen other occasions and committed two fumbles in his first career start. San Francisco also lost two starting offensive linemen. Grade: F

Defense: The unit was blown off the line of scrimmage by the Dallas Cowboys’ physical offensive line, couldn’t bring down running back Ezekiel Elliott and was bickering amongst itself by game’s end. The run defense looked like its 2016 self – not a good comparison. Grade: F

Special teams: Normally sure-handed Trent Taylor fumbled a punt return that set up the Cowboys’ first score. Bradley Pinion had one of his punts deflected in what was a rare down day for the 49ers special teams. Grade: D+

Overall: In previous losses the 49ers could take solace that they were at least competitive until game’s edge. Their 40-10 loss Sunday was the biggest home defeat since a 45-10 loss to Atlanta in 2009. Even the crowd was pathetic – more than half the fans at Levi’s Stadium were wearing Cowboys jerseys. Grade: F

This story was originally published October 22, 2017 at 3:55 PM.