Winners and losers from the 49ers-Texans preseason game

The 49ers made it halfway through the preseason thankfully, unlike the first game escaped without any serious injures. Erik Magnuson left the game with a hamstring injury but after the scare of the first game we can chalk it up as a win.

Here are your winers and losers from the 49ers second preseason game:

The Winners:

The passing game

After the half the 49ers offense had already spread the ball around to to ten different receivers. By the end of the game 17 different players had completions. Jimmy Garoppolo went 10/12 for 136 yards, one interception (tipped by Dante Pettis) and one touchdown. C.J. Beathard went 10/17 for 82 yards and Nick Mullens went 6/7 for 87 yards.

Sheldon Day

Day is a guy who kind of flies under the radar. He was thought to be quiet in the locker room but apparently he’s the talker of the group. It does, however, seem that he gets past and around the offensive linemen he is facing before they notice. Day recorded three solo tackles and two assists, but what was most impressive was his forced fumble. He was locked up with a Texans offensive lineman and still got a hand free to punch out the ball from the running back’s arms.

D.J. Jones

Jones is made from a similar mold as Day, sneaky good. He recorded two tackles, one assist and a forced fumble. He has done well in one on ones and been productive on the defensive line and could be developing into a very valuable addition to the team. He told us after the game that he changed his body composition during the offseason and now weighs about 297 when last season he was in the 320s. This has helped his productivity a great deal.

Nick Mullens

Oops, he did it again. Mullens led another drive nearly the entire length of the field. He didn’t get into the end zone to score or throw a touchdown pass but he did lead the offense close enough for Gould to kick a field goal for the lead.

The Losers:

The run game

After a half of football the 49ers still only had only 27 yards of rushing. The pass game was productive but they continues to have challenges making space for the running backs to get through the line. The team gave both Jeremy McNichols and Joe Williams chances in the back field but neither could produce.

Joe Williams

While Williams didn’t have a horrible game, the running back position competition is tight and he didn’t do himself any favors losing the ball halfway through the fourth quarter. He had eight carries for 18 yards, but the running game as a whole was not productive.

All of us

The new penalty for lowering/leading with the head has already created a ton of controversy. We got to see it first hand in Houston. There were two that were very questionable, one called against Raheem Mostert who appeared to lead with his shoulder. The second was against Jerry Attaochu who was already locked up with an offensive linemen and then with the push, lowered his head slightly. If his hands were already out and on his opponent, wasn’t he leading with his hands? This is going to be an issue all season long, and will take away from the pleasure of viewing the game with the subjectivity of the calls.