The San Francisco 49ers benched all but one member of their starting defense in their preseason finale against the Houston Texans. Ian Williams was the only player from the projected Week 1 lineup to get in the game. Defensive coordinator Vic Fangio said he wanted Williams to get more snaps against the Chargers, but he tightened up a bit. Expect Williams to get a sizable chunk of snaps in the preseason finale.
The biggest news to come from this defensive lineup is that Michael Wilhoite got the night off. Chris Borland and Nick Moody got the start at inside linebacker, which would seem to indicate Wilhoite is officially the guy starting next to Patrick Willis next week against the Dallas Cowboys. This is not a surprising development. Wilhoite has the most experience with the team, and filled in ably in a couple games for Patrick Willis last season.
The 49ers starting offense consisted of the following:
QB Blaine Gabbert
RB LaMichael James
WR: Quinton Patton, Stevie Johnson
TE: Derek Carrier, Vance McDonald
LT: Carter Bykowski
LG: Adam Snyder
C Daniel Kilgore
RG: Joe Looney
RT: Jonathan Martin