The Texans defeated the San Francisco 49ers in a decisive 24-13 win at Levi's Stadium on Sunday night.
Houston's defense scored an early touchdown, but 13 unanswered points by the 49ers would leave the Texans trailing until the mid-third quarter. Tom Savage led the offense on three scoring drives, including a pair of touchdown passes to tight end Stephen Anderson and running back Akeem Hunt.
Brock Osweiler and starters DeAndre Hopkins and Lamar Miller played just three offensive series before exiting the game. Osweiler was 4-of-7 for 27 yards with no touchdowns, no turnovers and a 65.8 passer rating.
"I think there were some pros and there were some cons," Osweiler said at halftime to Texans TV. "Obviously you want to come out and you want to be perfect as a team and as an offensive unit, and we weren't today. But that's ok. It gives us something to go back to Houston with. There were plenty of plays that we can all learn from and I think it will motivate us to come out and be better in the second preseason game."
All three Texans quarterbacks, including Savage and DeAndre Hopkins, saw action in the Texans preseason opener. Savage was 14-of-24 for 168 yards, two touchdowns, no turnovers, and a 107.6 passer rating while Weeden played the final two series of the game.
Lamar Miller rushed for 14 yards on the first offensive play of the game and finished with four carries for 30 yards before he was replaced by Kenny Hilliard. Hilliard led the backs with 12 carries for 40 yards and also had one catch for 17 yards.
Houston's defense forced two turnovers. On the 49ers second offensive series, Christian Covington forced a fumble which was recovered by outside linebacker John Simon. Simon's 41-yard return for a touchdown gave the Texans an early 7-0 lead with 11:33 left in first quarter.
Savage took over under center following the defense's second fumble recovery of the day. Rookie nose tackle D.J. Reader forced the fumble on 49ers running back DuJuan Harris as safety Kurtis Drummond recovered it at Houston's two-yard line.
Savage orchestrated two back-to-back scoring drives in the third quarter. Undrafted rookie Ka'imi Fairbairn kicked his first NFL field goal, a 45-yarder after a nine-play 41-yard drive. On the next series, Savage connected with undrafted tight end Anderson in the endzone. The San Jose native caught a 7-yard touchdown pass to give Houston a 17-13 lead with 3:47 left in the third quarter.
Running back Akeem Hunt caught Savage's second touchdown pass of the day. Hunt's nine-yard catch capped off a 10-play, 83-yard drive.
Ten different receivers recorded catches in the game. Jaelen Strong and Braxton Miller each had four receptions for 42 yards and 34 yards, respectively. Josh Lenz, who spent most of 2015 on the Texans practice squad, had three catches for 52 yards.
The Texans host the New Orleans Saints in their second preseason matchup on Saturday.
Check out the best pre-game photos from the #Texans preseason game against the 49ers.
