The San Francisco 49ers (3-2) are on the road against the Houston Texans (3-3) Sunday and are very happy to have their star running back Frank Gore back from an ankle injury.  They lost 45-10 last game against Atlanta and quarterback Shaun Hill was their leading rusher with 53 yards scrambling.  It is nice to see Hill making things happen with his legs, but the 49ers offense needs him to be more of a threat in the passing game.  He has only passed for 898 yards with five touchdowns and two interceptions on 56% pass completion.  He will have some extra help in the receiving game now that Michael Crabtree has finally signed and will be making his pro debut in this game.  Crabtree is very talented and has the ability to make an impact right away.  Hopefully Gore’s ankle still doesn’t limit him, because Houston’s poor run defense has been improving each week.  They held Cedric Benson, who was the league rushing leader, to 44 yards last week.

The 49er’s defense can not let Texans’ quarterback Matt Schaub beat them deep.  Schaub has turned this Texans offense into an electric, high scoring threat and running back Steve Slaton has done a decent job getting yards in their running game.  Slaton is very prone to fumbling though, with five fumbles already this season and eight in his two year career.  The 49ers should make an extra effort in stripping the ball from Slaton since he has proven he has a hard time holding on to it. This should be a close game but I think the Texans will win with Matt Schaub and the talented Texans offense, combined with their improving defense.

FINAL SCORE PREDICTION:  San Francisco 49ers 24, Houston Texans 31