The San Francisco 49ers close out their preseason schedule on Thursday, when they face the Houston Texans at 5 p.m. PT at NRG Stadium in Houston. The fourth preseason game is a tough one for a lot of fans to get excited about because most starters get few if any snaps. The 49ers have indicated Colin Kaepernick will play, which likely means the starting offensive line will play (minus Anthony Davis). The Texans have already made it clear quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick will sit out the game, and Case Keenum will start in his place.
This is a fun game to catch the deeper prospects. It's our last chance to watch as many as 22 of these guys before the 49ers make their final roster cuts. Those come sometime between the end of this game and 1 p.m. PT on Saturday. Players will then run through the waiver system, which means not everybody that makes the cut on Saturday is safe. If the 49ers spot an interesting player on waivers, moves will be made.
The 49ers will then follow all of this up on Sunday by signing their 10-man practice squad. The team does not have to sign the full ten players right away, but they will likely fill most if not all the practice squad on Sunday. That group will see some flux throughout the season as different players are needed for practice squad and development purposes.
Today's game will only be broadcast regionally, in the Bay Area on KPIX-5 (CBS), and in Houston on ABC/13 (KTRK). It will NOT air on NFL Network. Here are some of the regions where the 49ers and Texans broadcasts will air:
49ers broadcast: KOVR (CBS/13 - Sacramento), KION (CBS/46 - Monterey CA), KSBY (NBC/6 - San Luis Obispo CA), KFRE (CW/59 - Fresno), KERO (ABC/23 - Bakersfield CA), KLAS (CBS/8 - Las Vegas), KOLO (ABC/8 - Reno NV), KCVU (FOX/30 - Chico CA), KBVU (FOX/29 - Eureka CA), KMVU (FOX/26 - Medford OR), KVAL (CBS/13 - Eugene OR), KTVZ (NBC/21 - Bend OR), KITV (ABC/4 - Honolulu) [TD]
Texans broadcast: KSAT (ABC/12 - San Antonio), KVUE (ABC/24 - Austin), KJAC (NBC/12.2 - Beaumont TX), KZTV (CBS/10 - Corpus Christi), KETK (NBC/56 - Tyler TX), KCEN (NBC/6 - Waco TX), KAGS (NBC/23 - Bryan TX), KFXV (FOX/2 - Harlingen TX), KXOF (FOX/39 - Laredo TX), KPEJ (FOX/24 - Odessa TX), KTSM (NBC/9 - El Paso), WNTZ (FOX/49 - Alexandria LA)
If you are outside the broadcast zones, and do not have NFL Network, you can watch 49ers games in one of two ways:
1. Live online stream - For $15, you can purchase access to all preseason action via NFL.com's Preseason Live. This allows you to watch games live, and on replay. There was a $5 discount code the first couple weeks that might still work: DTV25. That is, if you're willing to pay this much for the worst preseason game of the schedule.
2. NFL Network replay - NFL Network re-broadcasts various preseason games in the days following the initial live broadcast. This week's 49ers-Texans game will be re-broadcast on NFL Network on Friday, August 29 at 9 p.m. PT