Rookie Trey Lance threw two second-half touchdown passes in his second NFL game as a starter and the San Francisco 49ers edged the playoffs with a 23-7 victory over the Houston Texans.
Lance was given the responsibility of leading the 49ers offense (9-7) for the first time since matchday five due to a thumb injury to Jimmy Garoppolo and had to overcome an interception in the first half to guide San Francisco to victory. .
Trey connects with Deebo !!#HOUvsSF | #49ers | #FTTB pic.twitter.com/k841cssLEA
– San Francisco 49ers (@ 49ers_es) January 2, 2022
The Niners will secure their playoff spot for the second time in five years under head coach Kyle Shanahan with a New Orleans loss or win next week against the Rams.
The Texans (4-12) struggled to get anything done on offense and failed to put together their first three-game winning streak since 2018.
Davis Mills completed 21 of 32 passes for 163 yards, with a touchdown and an interception, and Houston was limited to 222 yards on offense.
Read also: Dallas ‘crashes’ with the Cardinals; both are already in playoffs
Lance performed better against a less competitive opponent in his second game than he did in a 17-10 loss to Arizona in October.
He completed 16 of 23 passes for 249 yards, with his best play coming in the fourth quarter when he rolled to the right and then threw a cross pass to Deebo Samuel, who ran 45 yards to score, making it 17-7.
