| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | Tot | |
| SF | 7 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 13 |
| HOU | 7 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 16 |
The San Francisco 49ers couldn't quite stave off late-game heroics from Houston Texans quarterback Joe Webb, falling 16-13 in Week 2 of the preseason.
Forget quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo. The San Francisco 49ers now belong to third-string quarterback Nick Mullens, who nearly ensured the Niners would have their second of two preseason victories to kick off 2018.
Mullens' fourth-quarter efforts were negated, however, by a 41-yard touchdown pass by Texans backup quarterback Joe Webb to wide receiver Vyncint Smith in the waning seconds of the game, which gave Houston the 16-13 victory. Still, Mullens vastly outplayed the other San Francisco backup, C.J. Beathard, who for the second time in two weeks, was set back by deflected passes and late releases.
The 49ers, of course, hope neither Beathard nor Mullens (if he even makes the 53-man roster) see meaningful snaps this season. Those will go to Garoppolo, who looked far better than the 3-of-6 mark he showed during the Niners' exhibition opener against the Dallas Cowboys a little over a week ago.
It was also interesting to see Jeremy McNichols, not Williams, get the start Saturday with top runners Jerick McKinnon (calf) and Matt Breida (shoulder) out. All in all, it's not a good indication for Williams' future in San Francisco.
Like many preseason games, Saturday's contest was an ugly bout in many different facets. One of those was in the penalty department, where the Niners were hit with a whopping 15 flags for 140 yards. Sure, two of them were the result of the league's questionable helmet/shoulder-leading penalties -- one against running back Raheem Mostert on a punt-return play, and the other against EDGE Jeremiah Attaochu.
You be the judge:
Either way, discipline was a problem for San Francisco throughout most of the game. It's something the coaching staff will look to address between now and the team's third preseason game against the Indianapolis Colts on Saturday, Aug. 25 at 4:30 p.m. ET.
| SF | Team Stats | HOU |
| 17 | First Downs | 19 |
| 389 | Total Yards | 323 |
| 305 | Pass Yards | 250 |
| 84 | Rush Yards | 73 |
| 15 (140) | Penalties (Yds) | 8 (68) |
| 2 | Turnovers | 2 |
| 6 (40) | Punts (Avg) | 6 (43) |
| 32:06 | Time of Pos. | 27:54 |
| 49ers Player Stats | ||||
| Passing | Cmp/Att | Yds | TDs | INTs |
| C. Beathard | 10/17 | 82 | 0 | 0 |
| J. Garoppolo | 10/12 | 136 | 1 | 1 |
| N. Mullens | 6/7 | 87 | 0 | 1 |
| Rushing | Att | Yds | TDs | Lg |
| J. McNichols | 10 | 28 | 0 | 6 |
| C. Beathard | 3 | 23 | 0 | 17 |
| J. Wilson | 5 | 20 | 0 | 6 |
| J. Williams | 8 | 18 | 0 | 6 |
| D. Pettis | 1 | -5 | 0 | -5 |
| Receiving | Rec | Yds | TDs | Lg |
| M. Goodwin | 3 | 61 | 0 | 40 |
| J. McNichols | 3 | 19 | 0 | 7 |
| D. Pettis | 2 | 32 | 0 | 20 |
| K. Juszczyk | 2 | 29 | 0 | 24 |
| J. Wilson | 2 | 17 | 0 | 11 |
| J. Williams | 2 | 14 | 0 | 10 |
| T. Taylor | 2 | 7 | 1 | 5 |
| V. Bolden | 1 | 32 | 0 | 32 |
| P. Garçon | 1 | 17 | 0 | 17 |
| A. Burbridge | 1 | 16 | 0 | 16 |
| C. Hikutini | 1 | 14 | 0 | 14 |
| W. Saxton | 1 | 14 | 0 | 14 |
| C. Wick | 1 | 10 | 0 | 10 |
| G. Celek | 1 | 8 | 0 | 8 |
| R. Dwelley | 1 | 8 | 0 | 8 |
| K. Bourne | 1 | 6 | 0 | 6 |
| R. James | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Fumbles | Fum | Lost | Rec | Yds |
| F. Warner | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Kicking | FG | Lg | XP | Pts |
| R. Gould | 2/2 | 41 | 1/1 | 7 |
| Punting | No | Avg | I20 | Lg |
| B. Pinion | 3 | 40.7 | 3 | 45 |
| J. Locke | 3 | 38.7 | 3 | 45 |
| Kickoff Returns | No | Avg | TDs | Lg |
| D. Reed | 2 | 33 | 0 | 45 |
| V. Bolden | 1 | 32 | 0 | 32 |
| R. James | 1 | 22 | 0 | 22 |
| Punt Returns | No | Avg | TDs | Lg |
| R. James | 2 | 11 | 0 | 18 |
| D. Pettis | 2 | 10 | 0 | 11 |
| Defense | T-A | Sck | INTs | FF |
| S. Day | 3-2 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| F. Warner | 3-2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| R. Foster | 4-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| D. Jones | 2-1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| A. Exum | 2-1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| J. Ward | 2-1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| C. James | 2-1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| G. Mabin | 2-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| T. Moore | 1-1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| J. Tartt | 1-1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| E. Harold | 1-1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| D. Reed | 1-1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| R. Blair | 1-1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| K. Toomer | 1-1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| D. McCoil | 1-1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| E. Lee | 0-2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| E. Mitchell | 0-2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| A. Witherspoon | 1-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| E. Moseley | 1-0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| T. McFadden | 1-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| D. Buckner | 1-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| C. Marsh | 1-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| W. Sutton | 1-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| T. Powell | 0-1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| B. Coyle | 0-1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Texans Player Stats | ||||
| Passing | Cmp/Att | Yds | TDs | INTs |
| J. Webb | 10/19 | 127 | 1 | 1 |
| B. Weeden | 7/15 | 50 | 0 | 0 |
| D. Watson | 5/8 | 73 | 1 | 0 |
| Rushing | Att | Yds | TDs | Lg |
| J. Webb | 4 | 22 | 0 | 6 |
| A. Blue | 7 | 17 | 0 | 9 |
| L. Coleman | 3 | 15 | 0 | 13 |
| L. Miller | 4 | 6 | 0 | 5 |
| T. Ervin | 2 | 5 | 0 | 4 |
| T. Swanson | 2 | 4 | 0 | 3 |
| B. Weeden | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| T. Pope | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Receiving | Rec | Yds | TDs | Lg |
| B. Ellington | 4 | 50 | 1 | 37 |
| B. Miller | 3 | 40 | 0 | 15 |
| S. Coates | 3 | 32 | 0 | 15 |
| V. Smith | 2 | 43 | 1 | 41 |
| R. Griffin | 2 | 29 | 0 | 22 |
| T. Pope | 2 | 10 | 0 | 5 |
| M. Pruitt | 1 | 17 | 0 | 17 |
| S. Anderson | 1 | 8 | 0 | 8 |
| Q. Bray | 1 | 6 | 0 | 6 |
| A. Blue | 1 | 5 | 0 | 5 |
| M. Lengel | 1 | 5 | 0 | 5 |
| T. Swanson | 1 | 5 | 0 | 5 |
| Fumbles | Fum | Lost | Rec | Yds |
| A. Blue | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| L. Coleman | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| C. Slade | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Kicking | FG | Lg | XP | Pts |
| N. Rose | 1/1 | 32 | 1/2 | 4 |
| Punting | No | Avg | I20 | Lg |
| T. Daniel | 3 | 55.3 | 1 | 63 |
| S. Lechler | 3 | 45.7 | 1 | 51 |
| Kickoff Returns | No | Avg | TDs | Lg |
| T. Pope | 1 | 25 | 0 | 25 |
| S. Coates | 1 | 24 | 0 | 24 |
| T. Ervin | 1 | 20 | 0 | 20 |
| Punt Returns | No | Avg | TDs | Lg |
| T. Ervin | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Defense | T-A | Sck | INTs | FF |
| J. Reid | 3-3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| J. Keyes | 4-1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| K. Gilchrist | 4-1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| J. Bademosi | 3-2 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Z. Cunningham | 1-3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| B. Peters | 1-3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| A. Chachere | 3-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| J. Heath | 2-1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| D. Virgin | 1-2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| L. Lewis | 2-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| K. Drummond | 2-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| J. Thornton | 2-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| M. Hardison | 2-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| N. Thurman | 2-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| D. Bellamy | 1-1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| U. Kamalu | 1-1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| C. Covington | 0-2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| D. Ejiofor | 1-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| C. Moore | 1-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| K. Johnson | 1-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| K. Jackson | 1-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| B. Dunn | 1-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| A. Colvin | 1-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| I. Campbell | 1-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| P. Kalambayi | 1-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| B. Scarlett | 0-1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| D. Cole | 0-1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Written By:
Peter Panacy has been writing about the 49ers since 2011 for outlets like Bleacher Report, Niner Noise, 49ers Webzone, and is occasionally heard as a guest on San Francisco's 95.7 FM The Game and the Niners' flagship station, KNBR 680. Feel free to follow him, or direct any inquiries to his Twitter account.
All articles by Peter Panacy
Peter Panacy
Peter Panacy has been writing about the 49ers since 2011 for outlets like Bleacher Report, Niner Noise, 49ers Webzone, and is occasionally heard as a guest on San Francisco's 95.7 FM The Game and the Niners' flagship station, KNBR 680. Feel free to follow him, or direct any inquiries to his Twitter account.
All articles by Peter Panacy
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