Houston Texans in search of uncommon win over San Francisco 49ers in Week 17
It’s been a long time since the Houston Texans beat the 49ers.
It was a rare feat for the Houston Texans to beat the San Francisco 49ers in a regular season NFL game as it happened only once in four chances in the history of the Texans franchise.
The Texans are 1-3 total of all time in the game against the 49ers, and this Sunday it will be only the fifth clash between the two franchises, with the game taking place at Levi’s Stadium.
Houston hasn’t beaten the 49ers since 2009 (with a 24-21 score in Houston), and back then players like Matt Schaub, Steve Slaton, Andre Johnson, Owen Daniels and Kevin Walter all played offensively for the Texans.
That win was so long ago that Brian Cushing led the Texans in duels at eight that October day and Mario Williams had a sack.
Houston Texans: Will 2 Rookie Quarterbacks Face Off?
Looking forward to this Sunday if it’s a rookie quarterback fight, how much fun would that be?
The Texans are set to start Davis Mills, who has improved his overall game in recent games, and if the 49ers can’t have Jimmy Garoppolo, who didn’t train on Thursday with a thumb injury, it will be rookie Trey Lance under the middle.
In three games in which he threw a pass, Lance is 25 out of 48 for 354 yards with three touchdown passes and one interception. He last threw a pass in week 5.
Mills had a unique season in which he was forced to play in Week 2 when Starter went 0-6, returned to the bench when Tyrod Taylor was healthy, was put in a game by Taylor because of a bad play, and now has was called the starter over a healthy Taylor.
Throughout the ’21 season, Mills has thrown 2,200 yards with 12 touchdown passes and nine interceptions, with a 2-7 starter record.
In weeks 14-16, since being named a starter over Taylor, Mills has five touchdown passes and only one interception. He has two more games, including this week against the 49ers, to prove he should remain the starter for the franchise’s evolution.
Don’t expect the Texans to fold on what’s at stake for Mills, but this game is important for the 49ers as well as they still have hopes of making the playoffs.
So the Houston Texans have their best chance of winning a game against San Francisco since 2009, and a big aspect of that game will be the performance of rookie quarterback Mills as he seeks to lead the Texans to their fifth win of the season.
