49ers @ Texans preseason live blog

Posted By on August 18, 2018

San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Kendrick Bourne warms up before a preseason NFL football game against the Houston Texans Saturday, Aug. 18, 2018, in Houston. (AP Photo/Eric Christian Smith)

This is the live blog for the 49ers preseason Week 2 game against the Houston Texans. I will update this with information and analysis from my living room.

4:33 The following 49ers will not play:

  1. DT Solomon Thomas (concussion)
  2. DT Arik Armstead (hamstring)
  3. CB Richard Sherman (hamstring)
  4. CB K’Waun Williams (ankle)
  5. LB Malcolm Smith (hamstring)
  6. RB Jerick McKinnon (calf)
  7. RB Matt Breida (shoulder)
  8. TE George Kittle (shoulder)
  9. OL Garry Gilliam (concussion)
  10. SS Marcell Harris (hamstring)
  11. WR Max McCaffrey (foot)

5:06 The 49ers win the toss and choose to receive the opening kickoff.

5:10 On third-and-7, Jimmy Garoppolo completes a 40-yard pass up the sideline to Marquise Goodwin. The 49ers offensive line protected Garoppolo well on that play.

5:19 On third-and-goal from the 2-yard line, Garoppolo throws a touchdown pass to Trent Taylor running a crossing route along the back boundary of the end zone. Taylor was Garoppolo’s third read in the progression. Great drive by Garoppolo. He also made a third-read throw and fourth-and-1 to fullback Kyle Juszczyk, who gained 24 yards.

5:21 Jeremy McNichols was the 49ers starting running back. He ran twice for just one yard during the opening drive.

5:32 The Texans drive 78 yards for a touchdown. On fourth-and-goal from the 1, Deshaun Watson throws a touchdown pass to Bruce Ellington, who is wide open.

5:34 On that touchdown pass to Bruce Ellington, Jaquiski Tartt was playing zone coverage, and everyone else was playing man coverage.

5:45 On first-and-10 from the 12, Weston Richburg commits a holding penalty, then a 15-yard unsportsmanlike penalty after the play. Bad sequence from the veteran center.

5:46 On first-and-35 from the 37, Garoppolo throws a pass over the middle to Dante Pettis. The pass it high, it glances off Pettis’ hands and gets intercepted. That’s why you don’t throw to Pettis in traffic.

5:50 On third-and-10, DeForest Buckner grazes backup quarterback Brandon Weeden, who throws incomplete, and the Texans go three-and-out.

5:56 On first-and-10, tight end Cole Wick commits an illegal formation penalty. Then, on first-and-15, Beathard scrambled four yards past the line of scrimmage and throws an illegal forward pass. I would be surprised, but it’s Beathard.

6:06 On third-and-8 from the Texans 44, Sheldon Day tackles Weeden after he scrambles for two yards. Good series for the defense, although Ahkello Witherspoon gave up a 10-yard catch to Sammie Coates on third-and-1.

6:58 The Texans take a 10-7 lead with a 32-yard field goal early in the third quarter.

7:03 On third-and-4, C.J. Beathard’s pass gets knocked down at the line of scrimmage, and the 49ers go three-and-out.

7:13 Robbie Gould ties the game at 10 with a 39-yard field goal.

7:14 The 49ers are 0-6 on third down since Beathard became the quarterback. The 49ers traded to up to get him in the third round. Never forget.

7:20 On third-and-5, Tarvarius Moore tips a pass to Emmanuel Mosley, who makes the interception.

7:22 Another 3-and-out for Beathard and the 49ers offense.

7:30 The 49ers have committed 13 penalties for 125 yards and the fourth quarter just started.

7:32 D.J. Jones tackles Tyler Ervin for a one yard loss. Earlier, Jones forced a fumble. He is the best nose tackle on the team and should start over Earl Mitchell.

7:40 On third-and-19, Beathard throws a 10-yard check-down pass to Joe Williams, and the 49ers punt one play later.

7:41 The run blocking has been bad all preseason.

8:07 Gould gives the 49ers a 13-10 lead with a 41-yard field goal. The Texans will get the ball with 1:41 left in the fourth quarter.

8:13 Mosley gives up a 41-yard touchdown catch to Vyncint Smith. The Texans lead 16-13 after missing the extra point. The 49ers will get the ball with 27 seconds and two timeouts remaining.

8:21 The 49ers lost 16-13. Stay tuned for the good and not so good from this game.

This article has 155 Comments

    1. Don’t think we’ll see Armstead until the season begins. Garnett and Williams are in do or die situations. Let’s go a little harder, and a little longer today fellas!

  3. Cowboys are marching up and down the field against the Bengals, with Joe Looney at center. Too bad Baalke cut him.
    .
    Hmm, as I typed, Martin the right guard went down…..The Cowboys may have a need at guard.

  4. Jimmy “G” has 137.5 million reasons why he has to prove his five victories were no fluke.

      2. This says a lot about you (Seb’s Wifey) and Sving when you troll a person cheering his own team on.

  16. The offense on that drive was very reminiscent of the last five games of last season. No run game, but Jimmy has the passing game humming.

    1. 158 after the first drive.

      Matt Maiocco
      ✔
      @MaioccoNBCS
      Jimmy Garoppolo was 6 of 7 for 87 yards and a TD on the first series. His passer rating is 158.0.

  29. Joe Williams not impressing at this stage. Should have been able to pick up that 1st down or at least made more of an effort.

    1. Yeah, it looked like he could have picked up another couple of yards turning upfield instead of seeking the sideline.

    2. Yep, I will concede Williams looks like he will be on the practice squad. McNichols looks good, and Mostert just put his special teams prowess on full display….

  30. Trent Taylor took a hit to his back, and popped right back up.
    .
    Answered one of your concerns, Razor.

  34. I’ll say the same thing this week as I did last week about Williams. He is bringing his other hand to the ball too soon. Doing that will cut his fumbles by quite a bit but take away from his breakaway ability totally. He needs to find a way to keep one hand on the ball and still protect the ball.

  35. The pass was high, but Pettis should have caught it. This is exactly the issue Grant has been mentioning.

    1. Without question.
      Grant you called it.
      He plays “instinctually scared” over the middle.
      His reaction as the ball was at his hands was to immediately brace for a hit/protect himself.
      He gave up on the ball as it was going into his hands. Horrible play.
      I put it 80/20 on Pettis. Tiny bit high but catchable if he had balls.

  38. Ward was a very poor and perhaps inexplicable first round pick. Small college player. We are stuck with his huge salary this year. He is gone next year.

  39. Omfg, I just went back and watched every play for Weston Richburg. Holy, Mother of God this guy is TERRIBLE. He can’t block anyone who is head up or in either A gap. On pass plays he gets pushed back into JGs face. On run plays he gets beat so his man makes the tackle. This guy is actually a downgrade from last year. Richburg absolutely sucks. Oh man , Aaron Donald is going to kill JG.

  40. Not sure how you can bash Pettis for that.
    – he was running a deep crossing route, jumped and fully extended and the ball barely hit his fingertips.
    Jimmy has been really accurate tonight but that one was a terrible pass, he basically had a 10ft radius to place the ball and missed it.

    1. Agree. Watched the replay several times. If Pettis was 4 inches taller with a larger wingspan, yea, he might have caught it. Garoppolo was a tad long on the toss…

    2. I dunno, looked to me like he jumped early and was quick to get his hands down. Would have to watch it again, but first impression was he looked tentative going for the catch.

      1. Just rewatched it. He didn’t jump early. If anything he saw and reacted to it late. Definitely had a play at it though. Got both hands to it.

        1. Yeah he had a play on it but that was a tough pass to catch that could have been made. I just didn’t like the narrative that he was soft and not competing for the ball routes through the middle of the field.
          In this scenario the qb needs to bring the ball down.

          1. Shoup

            I agree…being soft and being smart aren’t always the same thing…broken ribs lead to ‘hearing footsteps’…Pettis is ‘Gold’…

    1. Nope, He has played well… but it must be said the Texans didn’t appear to be playing Watt or Clowney so he is going against second stringers.

    1. NYniner

      Last season I thought that Mullens was better than CJB only having his college play to judge from…This year, they’re both improved, but CJB still can’t get rid of the ball quickly enough…If Mullens was 6’4″+, he’d probably be ahead of JG…

  49. Man the refs had better not be calling plays like that as leading with head during the regular season.

    1. That is why I think the new rule is window dressing. It will sound like the league is doing something, but it wont end up protecting the players and may actually lead to more injuries.

  53. Nice. Garnett had a D linman try a spin move, and Garnett ended up on top of him on the ground. Nasty.
    .
    I am troubled by the penalties.

  54. McNichols looks good. Williams should have shown more urgency in his runs. JM did, however, have a ball go through his hands. Looked like he started to run before he caught the ball.

  55. Jonathan Garnett?? Tim Ryan is such a meathead. Preseason commentating is almost as bad as preseason officiating.

    1. After watching the play multiple times, it didn’t look like Pettis was timid or that he played with alligator arms. He just didn’t make what would have been a tough catch (probably should have caught it though). It seems some people were a little too eager to praise Grant.

      1. He should have made the catch. He immediately took his eyes to the safety after missing the ball.

        2. “He should have made the catch.”

          Yeah, I said that. I have very high, Rice like standards.

          “He immediately took his eyes to the safety after missing the ball.”

          Key word there is after.

            1. So he heard footsteps, and by your own admission, he kept his eyes on the ball until “after” he missed the catch. Doesn’t sound timid to me. Head on a swivel, as a ST’s coach would say.

        3. Should of been caught and may of looked away to the middle..but looks like he didn’t jump high enough or jumped a little late. His hands were extended and had both hands on the ball..but JG did let it sail about a foot to high anyways.

  58. I think that play is on both guys. It was high and put Pettis in danger but if you can touch it, you can catch it right!

      3. Would have been a really tough catch. He certainly didn’t alligator arm it, just couldn’t quite pull down a pass that sailed a bit on Jimmy. That’s football. Remember, that was a first down & 35 yards to gain, thanks to a bad holding call on Richburg, IMO, that was made -15 yards worse, because Richburg got in the refs face because he knew it was a bad call. The ball sailed just a bit on Jimmy, and on 1st & 35, the Texans were in dime coverage with 6 DB’s, a recipe for disaster.

        Other than that one play, Jimmy was absolutely lights-out, doing his thing, finding his 4th and 5th progression. He’s an amazing QB, no question. The ability to find the open receiver and deliver the ball in a blink of the eye, is simply poetry in motion. He’s going to have a great year.

        Plus, I feel better about the OL after this week. In fact, this whole week was a MAJOR SUCCESS, IMO. Just what this team needed.

        Now …. if we can just find a way to generate a consistent pass rush.

        1. Unfortunately, Joe Williams is playing himself right off this team, and perhaps out of the league altogether. I think the NFL is too big for him. He and CJB are my 2 biggest disappointments so far this summer.

  63. Nice play by Moore. Get him more live reps, and he’ll deliver. Also Reed, Pettis, James.

    1. So….is the OL blasting huge holes in Houston’s line and Joe just flat screws up? Are other factors in play? Just curious.

  68. Next week should say much more about where the 9ers are…assuming they play starters for at least a half, if not a bit more.

    1. Pita was out there. He looks quite a bit bigger than last year, if memory serves me correctly.

    2. Nope….haven’t heard their name being called so far.

      Bolden seems missing as well.

  71. So far….

    J. McNichols: 10 carries, 28 yards, 6 long
    J. Williams: 8 carries, 18 yards, 6 long

  72. Cassie there you have it! No effort from Joe Williams, it seems like he doesn’t care if he makes the team or not.

    1. I’m not a Williams fan-boy. Having said that, I wonder how he would have performed if he had the majority of his carries with the first string OL. Maybe an improvement, maybe not. I’m not one to call for flushing players early in preseason–that’s up to the coaches who know a lot more than I do.

  73. How many catchable balls will our secondary drop? We could have got at least 3-4 interceptions in this game.

    Really sloppy game on both sides of the ball. SMH

    1. Classic preseason for sure. I sat in the stands at a preseason game back in 77–what a mess that was.

  74. After watching Joe Williams this quarter, I’m gonna say he’s a worse pick than CJ Beathard. At least CJB gives effort. Williams seems like he came to camp with the right attitude and then after some stiff competition from the other backs, has just given up. He gives very little effort. Beathard sucks but at least he’s got heart.

  75. Joe had a bad game at the wrong time. He likely has 2 more preseason games to see if he can make the team.

  78. Joe Williams ain’t making this team. He is bad. Just not a natural runner. Pretty obvious to see unless you are of course Primetime. Lol

  80. Williams had a very subpar game…Mullens and Wilson looked good in the 4th.

    1. I will cut JW some slack. He had a very emotional 2 weeks. His brother in law succumbed to more senseless gun violence. Sure looked like he did not have his head in the game, but he was probably shaken by the murder of a family member.

  81. Glad to see Cooper getting some action. Maybe he will be ready by the first game to break into the lineup.
    .
    Niners had opportunities to pick the ball off, but drops hurt them.
    .
    The penalties were head scratchers. These new rules are confusing and contradictory. Niners were sloppy and not focused. Coaches need to prepare them better.
    .
    CJ Jones was a beast, and Sheldon Day did well. I liked Attaochu’s hustle, but he ended up on the turf way too many times.

  82. Ryan is horrible to listen to.

    CJB is unwatchable. I could get a beer from my Levi app before he releases a pass.

    That INT was on Jimmy G not Pettis

    His INT’s are starting to worry me a bit. Always thought Farve was overrated because he threw so many in his career. Hope we don’t have another Favre.

    Big Mistake by KS and going conservative on the last drive. I thought he should have put some kind of confidence in the young QB.
    It’s more important than a pre season win IMO

    J Williams is not an NFL caliber RB welcome aboard Morris

    The timing for penalties is the same. They seem to love the red zone for these calls.

    Despite Grants first take on Pettis. This kid is going to be a game breaker with JG.

    That’s my take on this worthless pre season game.

  83. Well, In the end it came down to the penalties. Coaches need to take some of the blame and cleanup the plays.
    DJ Reed made some nice plays and was electric in returns.
    Mullens played better than CJ and gave the offense some spark.
    McNichols looks much better than Joe Williams. I will be surprised if Joe makes the team.
    Oline might be better than I initially thought but pass rush is pretty non-existent! :(

Comments are closed.