The Texans have dominated the 49ers, outgaining them 230 to 25 and outscoring them 13-0.
The Texans have 10 first downs to none for the 49ers, who had only four plays in the first quarter with Christian McCaffrey getting no touches.
Houston has scored on all three possessions, and San Francisco is lucky not to be down more. The Texans are only 1-for-3 in the red zone, settling for chip-shot field goals of 33 and 34 yards by Ka’imi Fairbairn on their first two possessions.
Rookie Jayden Higgins caught a 12-yard touchdown pass from C.J. Stroud.
The Texans are playing without wideouts Christian Kirk and Nico Collins. Yet, Stroud is 15-of-19 for 184 yards.
Rookie Jaylin Noel has three catches for 55 yards.
A report on Saturday indicated that Falcons quarterback Michael Penix would miss Sunday’s game against the Dolphins because of a knee injury and the Falcons made it official 90 minutes ahead of kickoff in Atlanta.
Penix is inactive for the game and Kirk Cousins will make the start for the Falcons. It will be Cousins’ first start since he was benched in favor of Penix after Week 15 of the 2024 season. Easton Stick is active as the No. 2 quarterback.
The Falcons are also going to be without wide receiver Drake London. London had no injury designation on Friday, but was downgraded to questionable with a hip injury on Saturday.
Dolphins at Falcons
Dolphins: QB Quinn Ewers, DB Elijah Campbell, CB Juju Brents, S Jordan Colbert, WR Tahj Washington, DT Zeek Biggers, TE Julian Hill
Falcons: QB Michael Penix, WR Drake London, EDGE Jalon Walker, CB Billy Bowman, DT Zach Harrison, OL Michael Jerrell, DL LaCale London
Bears at Ravens
Bears: TE Cole Kmet, CB Tyrique Stevenson, RB Roschon Johnson, QB Case Keenum, DT Chris Williams, LB Ruben Hyppolite
Ravens: QB Lamar Jackson, WR Devontez Walker, T Carson Vinson, OL Emery Jones, DT Aeneas Peebles, CB Jaire Alexander, S Sanoussi Kane
Bills at Panthers
Bills: WR Joshua Palmer, CB Brandon Codrington, LB Matt Milano, OL Chase Lundt, DT DaQuan Jones, DE Landon Jackson
Panthers: QB Bryce Young, WR Hunter Renfrow, RB DeeJay Dallas, OL Nick Samac, TE James Mitchell, DT Cam Jackson, DT Jaden Crumedy
Jets at Bengals
Jets: QB Tyrod Taylor, WR Garrett Wilson, KR Kene Nwangwu, TE Stone Smartt, DL Jay Tufele, LB Kobe King, CB Sauce Gardner
Bengals: CB Marco Wilson, OL Matt Lee, WR Jermaine Burton, TE Cam Grandy, DT McKinnley Jackson, DE Cam Sample
49ers at Texans
49ers: QB Brock Purdy, RB Jordan James, WR Ricky Pearsall, C Jake Brendel, DE Bryce Huff, DE Yetur Gross-Matos, DT CJ West
Texans: WR Nico Collins, T Trent Brown, WR Christian Kirk, QB Graham Mertz, DL Darrell Taylor, OL Jarrett Kingston
Browns at Patriots
Browns: QB Shedeur Sanders, CB Jarrick Bernard-Converse, S Damontae Kazee, RB Raheim Sanders, G Zak Zinter, T Cornelius Lucas, DT Adin Huntington
Patriots: WR Efton Chism, QB Tommy DeVito, S Kyle Dugger, DL Eric Gregory, LB Caleb Murphy, OL Caedan Wallace, DL Keion White
Giants at Eagles
Giants: S Jevon Holland, WR Jalin Hyatt, CB Paulson Adebo, T James Hudson, DL Chauncey Golston, G Evan Neal, QB Jameis Winston
Eagles: EDGE Azeez Ojulari, CB Adoree’ Jackson, C Cam Jurgens, WR A.J. Brown, QB Sam Howell
The NFL fined Texans cornerback Derek Stingley Jr. for a facemask penalty on Monday night.
Stingley will lose $11,593 for the infraction that knocked off the helmet of Seahawks wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba.
Stingley’s facemask set off a fracas on the Texans’ sideline with Texans linebacker Christian Harris shoving Smith-Njigba. Only Stingley was fined.
Texans linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair avoided a fine for an unnecessary roughness penalty for tackling Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold out of bounds.
The NFL did fine Smith-Njigba $14,491 for using a prop for a celebration for dunking the football over the crossbar after catching an 11-yard touchdown pass.
The goalpost can be used as a prop. As long as the goalpost is not touched.
Seahawks receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba dunked the football over the crossbar after scoring a touchdown on Monday night against the Texans. Because he touched the bar, he was flagged — and he was fined.
The price tag: $14,491.
Although the No Fun League decided several years ago to become the Some Fun League when it comes to celebrations, the goalpost is a no-no — mainly because Saints tight end Jimmy Graham once moved the apparatus when dunking the ball.
In the future, JSN should consider a finger roll. If his fingers hit the yellow bar, the NFL will be dipping its fingers into his pockets. Again.
Texans linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair has a fairly extensive history of fines for in-game infractions. He seemed to be in line to get another one, after being called for unnecessary roughness to cap a tackle of Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold on Monday night.
Ultlimately, no fine was imposed on Al-Shaair.
“It really was me running with my receiver, him running. I pushed off of the receiver, right to the tackle,” Al-Shaair said this week.
“He lowers his shoulder. We both just kind of hit each other. I’m driving him. He’s trying to drive his legs. Still no whistle, but my head is in his chest. So, I don’t know really where I’m at on the field. There’s still no whistle. They never blew the whistle until after I dropped him on the ground.”
While the officials saw it as unnecessary roughness, the league office — the same group that suspended Al-Shaair three games last December — opted not to fine him, again
