Texans Survive Late Surge By San Francisco

NFL News - October 25th, 2009 - Written by John

Perhaps Alex Smith is the San Francisco 49ers' answer after all.

But the Niners dug themselves into too big of a hole for it to even matter. Head coach Mike Singletary, disgusted by a 21-0 deficit in the first half, opted to give the former no.1 draft pick another crack at some playing time, pulling Shaun Hill at the break. Smith was very good in his return, but it wasn't enough as the Houston Texans held on for a 24-21 win on Sunday.

Kris Brown's 50-yard field goal with seven minutes left was the difference. It pushed the Texans to a 4-3 record for only the second time in the franchise's existance, and gave them consecutive wins for the first time this season.

Smith, who hadn't played a down since 2007, was 15-of-22 for 206 yards in the second half with three touchdown strikes, all to tight end Vernon Davis. It allowed Davis, who only had one catch in the first half, to finish the day with 93 yards and the three aforementioned scores. Michael Crabtree had five catches in his NFL debut for 56 yards as well, giving him three more than Darius Heyward-Bey in six less weeks. Heyward-Bey has only caught the two passes despite 22 targets. Although some of that has to do with the guy throwing him the ball, it's an important note after Crabtree considered Heyward-Bey his measuring stick when negotiating his contract. He believed he was a better player, despite being picked three slots later and held himself out of camp for 71 days.

He was a key part of the Niners first scoring drive in the second half when he reeled in a 17-yard completion. That set up Davis' first touchdown, from 29 yards out. With 13 minutes left, Smith continued to rally his team with 14-yard strike to Davis to make it 21-14.

The Texans got on the board with a furious rush of points in the first half. Steve Slaton started the onslaught with a one-yard plunge to cap off a 61-yard drive on their third possession. Slaton, who led all rushers with 67 yards, again scored in the second quarter on a screen pass from Matt Schaub from nine-yards out.

Schaub then closed out the quarter with his second touchdown of the quarter, hitting tight end Owen Daniels with a 42-yarder.

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