The 49ers did the job they had to do, including building up Trey Lance, and they’ll control their own destiny after a 23-7 victory over the Texans.
The San Francisco 49ers had to withstand a very slow start and some frustrations, but they ultimately did the job they had to do, beating the Houston Texans in Week 17, and a much better second half meant that the Niners will decide their own fate next week.
San Francisco couldn’t get every result it wanted, though, with the New Orleans Saints also winning this week and remaining a threat to the 49ers in the Wild Card race, but you can’t have everything.
The 23-7 Niners victory over Houston will be a morale booster for rookie quarterback Trey Lance, who started the game slow but played much better as the game went on, important if he has to start for the season finale against the Los Angeles Rams in the wake of Jimmy Garoppolo’s thumb injury.
The defense knuckled down and almost blanked an offense that had enjoyed a good fortnight behind rookie quarterback Davis Mills, and San Francisco now owns a 3-0 record over rookie quarterbacks this season. The domination of the defense meant that despite a poor offensive showing in the first half, it was only a 7-3 deficit.
This was quickly erased and became a lead the 49ers were never seriously threatened with losing. The Texans continued to falter, and the Niners did enough to keep the chains moving and the scoreboard ticking over.
The equation is now pretty simple: win in Week 18, and San Francisco will be in regardless of results, lose and sweat over the results of the Saints, who are playing the Atlanta Falcons.
But that’s something to worry about for next week, for this week at least the 49ers are still secure with a playoff seeding.
Here’s how the grades went for Lance and the Niners this game.
49ers Offensive Grades
Quarterback
Trey Lance came into the game off the back of a lot of hype from head coach Kyle Shanahan about how much he had improved in practice, but we didn’t see that very early on.
Shanahan ran a mostly conservative style trying to use the run as the primary weapon as usual, and the few throws Lance had early on were accurate but short.
In the second quarter Lance threw a bad interception trying to hit a covered George Kittle, and was lucky not to throw a second on right on the cusp of halftime (which was miraculously somehow caught by Brandon Aiyuk after the deflection).
Lance settled down however in the second half and showed off the ability that caused the 49ers to trade up to take him in the NFL Draft. He moved the chains consistently and scored his first touchdown off a nicely designed play to running back Elijah Mitchell.
His most impressive throw came later in the half when he threw a bomb downfield perfectly to Deebo Samuel for his second touchdown. This effectively iced the game for San Francisco and ensured Lance would have his first win as a starter in the NFL.
Lance will need to work on developing some touch on his passes at times as well as better decision making, but we saw a lot more of the good side than the raw side. Overall, he went 16-of-23 for 249 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. He also had eight carries for 31 yards and had a rushing touchdown called back due to a penalty that would have put the real exclamation on his performance.
Lance wasn’t perfect, but he was very good indeed.
Grade: B+
Running Backs
It’s good to have Mitchell back, and he didn’t slow down a beat in his return to the field.
Mitchell had 119 yards on 21 carries and two catches for 11 yards an a touchdown. He broke free for large gains and took a lot of the pressure on Lance to carry the offense.
The Texans were somewhat successful in stifling the running game early, but Mitchell wore them down.
Surprisingly enough, no other running back had a carry in this game with the rest of the yardage accumulated by Lance, Samuel (seven carries for 19 yards) and Kittle (one carry for 6 yards).
As for the grade, this is all Mitchell.
Grade: B+
Wide Receivers/Tight Ends
It was a mixed bag for the receivers of the group, as Lance spread the ball around with his passing as opposed to his last start where he leaned on Samuel for a lot of the game.
Aiyuk was the best performing receiver in terms of catches with four receptions for 94 yards, with one of those being an excellent adjustment off a tipped ball to give the 49ers a good range for a field goal to end the half.
Samuel pulled in the sole score for the receivers and ended up with three receptions for 63 yards and the aforementioned touchdown.
Kittle had an excellent acrobatic catch but was otherwise totally blanked by the Texans, with only that aforementioned reception for 29 yards. It doesn’t appear he and Lance have developed the right chemistry just yet.
Grade: B
Offensive Line
The offensive line blocked well in all facets of the game, albeit with a mobile quarterback making life a little easier for them.
But that’ll suit the 49ers just fine. They gave up only the single sack and helped wear down the defensive line of Houston throughout. The running game got a lot easier as the game went on.
The best performing positional group today.
Grade: A
49ers Defensive Grades
Defensive Line
Three sacks is probably slightly underwhelming, given the Texans didn’t have a fully fit offensive line, but similar to their offensive counterparts it was a case of wearing down Houston.
The longer the game went on the tougher it was for the Texans to move down the field, and a lot of that was to do with the more consistent pressure put on.
The running game of Houston, a positive talking point for them the last few weeks, was shut down from the beginning as well.
The most surprising part was how Nick Bosa was totally erased by the Texans, but given the win and how he’s performed all season we can forgive him a quiet game.
Grade: B
Linebackers
Fred Warner looked like the All-Pro from last year making a lot of key plays and pumping his teammates up on and off the field in a good performance.
Davis Mills wasn’t going to threaten downfield very often so it was important the linebackers stuck their tackles on the underneath throws, and for the most part they were successful.
Marcell Harris recorded the lone takeaway for the 49ers with an interception but was frankly bailed out by the refs when he fumbled the ball. The refs called forward progress which was frankly just not the right call.
But the linebackers in all did their job.
Grade: B+
Defensive Backs
It’s getting more and more frustrating every week to see countless pass interference flags flying whenever the opposing team tests the 49ers cornerbacks deep.
It seems to be a bad habit they can’t break out of, but not turning your head is going to be a flag.
Pure and simple.
Flags aside the defensive backs didn’t give up many big plays, although they were bailed out when they allowed a deep reception to a double-teamed receiver who was erased due to a holding call.
They weren’t tested a lot, however, and the deficiencies are still clear to see when they were.
Grade: C+
49ers Special Teams/Coaching Grades
Special Teams
There isn’t much to say about the return game, which will be in desperate need for an upgrade this offseason, but the coverage unit did a lot better this game and didn’t give up too much in field position.
Mitch Wishnowsky punted perfectly fine, while Robbie Gould hit all three field goals and two extra-point attempts.
Grade: B-
Coaching
Kyle Shanahan was entirely too conservative early on with his play-calling, and as a result, you could see Trey Lance was not getting into any sort of rhythm early. Add the running game not taking off as well as some stops on fourth down and it wasn’t too surprising (but still frustrating) to be behind 7-3 at the half.
To his credit, Shanahan adjusted afterwards. Lance had more throws and looked much better, and the running game opened up more as a result due to the Texans needing to respect the passing game more.
Not Shanahan’s best performance by any means, but in the end, a comfortable victory.
DeMeco Ryans can’t complain about too much. He probably didn’t get as many sacks as he thought the defense should and the cornerback situation is still a mess, but he held the Texans to seven points and that’s going to win most games.
True enough the Texans aren’t an elite opponent, but they showed in the last fortnight they shouldn’t be taken lightly.
Grade: B+