As the man who touches the ball every snap, it’s easy to place the blame on Brian Hoyer for the 49ers’ severe lack of offense. After their last minute loss to the Seahawks yesterday, the 49ers are 0-2 and still searching for their first touchdown of the season. Yet, while many are jumping on the Hoyer hate train, Ian Rapoport plead the quarterback’s case Monday morning on Murph and Mac.
“One of the main problems with being quarterback is that people can’t always watch and tell who else is screwing up,” Rapoport said. “It’s hard for me to blame Hoyer, when the entire offense is not functioning as it should. I think he does need to be better, but I don’t get the sense that there’s an option better than him right now.”
To Hoyer’s credit he’s gone up against two of the toughest defenses in the NFL. In the 49ers’ 23-3 defeat on Opening Day, the Panthers held Hoyer to only 193 yards and an interception. A week later, Hoyer was held to 99 yards and sacked twice by the Seahawks, who scored their first touchdown of the season in the fourth quarter to beat the 49ers 12-9. Given the strength of the defenses he’s faced; it becomes much easier to sympathize with Hoyer.
“You can talk about the quarterback and complain about no touchdowns, it’s all bad I definitely get that, but part of it is, these are really good defenses that the 49ers played. We’ll see how it all shakes out in the ratings and all that, but talent, scheme, how hard they play, these are some nasty teams. It’s not fun to play them and you look ugly, but that’s what happens when you face a great defense.”
Furthermore, on the other end of every pass Hoyer makes is someone making the catch. When it’s caught by someone from the other team, the blame goes to the quarterback, but in Hoyer’s case, he’s also taking the blame for catches dropped and mistakes by his receivers.
“You really only see the interception, but you don’t always see the receiver who didn’t go 100% on that route or he broke it off at the wrong point,” Rapoport said.
Hopefully, the 49ers are past their toughest challenge of the season. Compared to the Panthers and Seahawks, the defenses of the Rams in Week 3 and Cardinals in Week 4 look considerably more manageable.
“I think when you look at the Niners, the offense is the thing where, obviously Shanahan is an offensive guy, but it takes a little longer, you need to be a little more in sync and you probably don’t have as much talent there,” Rapoport said. “I’m not surprised that’ve been in games that have been low scoring, but I also imagine it’s going to get better.”
To listen to the full interview, check out the podcast below and skip to 8:00 for Rapoport on Hoyer.