Garrett Celek’s 61yard catch was the longest play of his football life.
TE turns short catch into stirring 61-yard connection
HOUSTON >> Tight end Garrett Celek’s 61-yard reception Sunday wasn’t just the longest of his 49ers career, he says it’s the longest of his life, and it keyed the 49ers’ go-ahead touchdown drive against the Texans.
Faced with third-and-6 from the 19-yard line, Jimmy Garoppolo found Celek wide open across the middle with about a 10-yard pass, which Celek caught in stride and cut up field to the Texans’ 20.
“That route we just put in this week,” Celek said. “We probably ran it once or twice in practice, maybe. They dropped all their guys, so right in the middle it was wide open, and Marquise (Goodwin) made a great block to kind of spring me.”
Goodwin took no credit, saying he merely “got in the way” of a defensive back. But Goodwin confirmed this was a well-planned play, adding: “This is something Kyle Shanahan had planned out this whole week and we knew that it would work.”
Celek capped the drive with a 6-yard touchdown catch, putting the 49ers ahead 23-16 en route to their 26-16 win.
“I thought he was gone for a second. He had the jets,” Garoppolo said of Celek’s 61-yard catch-andrun. “He got a little (yards after the catch), which is a QB’s best friend. Celek Time, it’s a fun thing. The locker room loves it, for sure.”
• Cornerback Dontae Johnson got benched in favor of Greg Mabin after a disastrous time covering — or trying to cover — DeAndre Hopkins (11 catches, 149 yards, two touchdowns).
“Mabin came in and answered it very well,” Shanahan said. “Dontae had a rough drive opening that third quarter. It’s tough, he started with an early P.I. on him, and once you get a P.I., you want to stay off him, and you get out of whack.
“Regardless, Dontae’s done some good things for us this year. I’m excited Mabin came in and got experience that will help him moving forward.”
Johnson returned to action once fellow starting cornerback Ahkello Witherspoon sustained a knee injury with 5:40 remaining; Shanahan said Witherspoon will undergo an MRI on Monday.
• Zane Beadles, filling in at right tackle for Trent Brown, a late scratch with a shoulder injury, fared reasonably well.
Beadles and left tackle Joe Staley were the only linemen not to draw a penalty. Laken Tomlinson got called twice for holding, Daniel Kilgore also drew a holding call, and Brandon Fusco committed a false start.
• This was Shanahan’s first game at NRG Stadium since losing in the Super Bowl last February as the Atlanta Falcons offensive coordinator. Shanahan said that didn’t strike him until he walked on the field pregame Sunday.
“Had some real good feelings in that game, not toward the end,” Shanahan said, referring to a 28-3 blown lead. “The feelings today were definitely much better.”
• With a career-high 334 passing yards Sunday and 293 last week, Garoppolo’s 627 yards are the most by a 49ers quarterback through two starts since the 1970 merger.
• Robbie Gould made all four of his field-goal attempts, including a seasonlong 52-yarder in the second quarter. He is 3-of-3 from at least 50 yards this season, and he’s 76.5-percent all-time from that distance, the third best mark in NFL history.