NFL – Week 4 (Thursday Night)
San Francisco 49ers, 40 – Houston
The Pros rolled into this Texas port city for their final preseason game and commenced to hold a clinic on steer wrangling. Yes, Houston was first on the scoreboard with Chris Boswell’s 41-yard field goal in the first quarter. Then with 6:46 left in the second quarter, Houston’s other kicker, Randy Bullock, lofted a 52-yarder through the uprights to make the score 6-0 Houston. That’s when the chute doors opened.
49er QB Blaine Gabbert led an 84-yard drive capped by a 14-yard pass to Asante Cleveland for San Francisco’s first score with 1:18 left in the first quarter. And what do you know – after a QB change to Josh Johnson, the 49ers scored again at 0:34 with a 13-yard pass to Bruce Ellington to boost the lead to 14-6. Do we really need to say both Phil Dawson extra points were good? That man is a machine.
After a Phil Dawson field goal in the third quarter, the two teams traded interceptions-for-touchdown plays (just to be social) to make the score 24-13 49ers. San Francisco’s Chris Borland ran 34 yards for his glory. But the Texan’s Dre Hal bested Borland in yardage, running 77-yards for his interception score…the final points that Houston would register on the day.
The fourth quarter was all Niners. QB Josh Johnson passed for two TDs to favored receiver Kyle Nelson and sharp-eyed Kassim Osgood of the defensive blocked one of Houston’s punts for a 2 point safety. Highlight Alert: Johnson went an impressive 14 for 17 on the day for a total 135 yards – Like, Like. With these 16 additional points, the Texans were wrestled to ground and time called; score 40-13 San Francisco.
Like our other local NFL team, the 49ers end their preseason with a record of 2-2. We were encouraged that the offensive line was back to form…and that created a space for both quarterbacks to work their magic. We looked good. Now it’s on to the regular season with an away game against the Cowboys on September 7th.
