49ers add to woes of Schaub, Texans
San Francisco scores off interception return on his first pass of the night to set the tone.
SAN FRANCISCO 34 HOUSTON 3
SAN FRANCISCO — Matt Schaub and the Houston Texans have hit “rock bottom,” and Coach Gary Kubiak believes the quarterback who helped put them there can bring them back. At least for now. Schaub threw three passes for interceptions, includ- ing one returned for a touchdown for the fourth straight game, and the San Francisco 49ers trounced the Texans, 34-3, on Sunday night to hand Houston its third straight loss.
“It’s a broken record right now,” Kubiak said. “It looked the same. Hopefully, that’s rock bottom.”
The 49ers turned a prime-time showdown into an all-out pick party at the Stick.
Tramaine Brock jumped in front of Schaub’s first pass of the night for an interception, running 18 yards for a touchdown just 90 seconds into the game to set the tone for San Francisco’s stellar defensive effort.
Things only got better for Brock and San Francisco, and worse for Houston’s beleaguered quarterback. Schaub was replaced by T.J. Yates in the fourth quarter, but Kubiak said Schaub would remain his starting quarterback.
“As a team, we need to get better and get better fast. And that’s myself included, most importantly,” Schaub said. “We’ve worked too hard, and I’ve worked too hard since I’ve walked in this building, for it to come to this right now. I’m better than I’m playing and our team’s better than we’re playing right now. We need to all correct it very fast.”
Schaub finished 19 of 35 for 173 yards passing and a sack. The horrendous showing came a week after a 23-20 overtime loss at home to Seattle when he threw an interception for a touchdown in the fourth quarter.
Fans in Texas were already furious and burning his jersey. Now Houston (2-3) has its first three-game skid since the end of 2011.
With Schaub struggling, San Francisco’s offense didn’t need to do much.
Colin Kaepernick tossed a 64-yard touchdown pass to Vernon Davis and Frank Gore ran for 81 yards and a score. The 49ers (3-2) are right back in the NFC West race after the Seahawks (4-1) lost at Indianapolis.
Anthony Dixon added a two-yard touchdown run for the NFC champions, while Brock had a second interception and nearly a third.
Kaepernick went six for 15 with 113 yards as the 49ers won their second straight in emphatic fashion following the first two-game losing streak under third-year Coach Jim Harbaugh.