O.C. Dooley
Texans / 49ers Over 37
One could argue this total should be substantially higher since the high-octane Houston offense is involved. There is a chance that the NFL’s lead rusher from a year ago Arian Foster will see his first preseason action after nursing a hamstring injury for several weeks. While Foster and Steve Slaton form an already lethal backfield. Ben Tate is finally starting to perform coming off a 9-carry 95 yard effort that included a touchdown. Going into the 2010 preseason Tate was supposed to battling to be a starting running back when he went down with a season-ending broken ankle. What Tate brings to the Texans is another strong and powerful rusher who can make big cuts. Houston’s top notch passing game featuring quarterback Matt Schaub to wideout Andre Johnson will get plenty of work, but the big news is the reserve signal caller Matt Leinhart who can light up the scoreboard in the latter stages of tonight’s matchup. It was though that Leinhart would join his college coach Pete Carroll in Seattle during the offseason, but when the Seahawks opted for Tarvaris Jackson, the Texans swooped in and re-signed Leinhart to a guaranteed $3.75 million dollar deal. To make a long story short Leinhart learned a lot from Houston head coach Gary Kubiak a year ago and had a very strong training camp. Tonight’s total has been kept in check since San Francisco’s attack has not exactly been lighting up the preseason scoreboard. But new 49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh actually studied the franchise’s famous West Coast offense during the lockout. Of course that offense was designed by the late Bill Walsh who turned Joe Montana into a legend. What Harbaugh is looking for is MOBILITY with his quarterbacks and he does have that with starter Alex Smith who was a prolific runner in his collegiate days at Utah. In the draft San Francisco “traded up” for Colin Kaepernick who ran for more than 4,000 yards while at Nevada. Former NFL offensive wizard Dennis Green is now a head coach in the UFL and one of his 2010 quarterbacks Josh McCown has been signed as a #3 option. McCown who led the UFL in passer rating still has mobility even at an advanced age. In the history of the Houston Texans franchise they are a whopping 12-2 OVER the total when facing a “non” conference opponent in a preseason clash and that is the case tonight