Our 49ers won over the Houston Texans. Yet we write this with a sneer, for the fix was in. Houston had but to lose this game to garner the top pick in the 2006 NFL Draft. The Niners, with a win last week over the Rams, were already out of the running for the first pick, but could have improved their standing in the NFL Draft had they lost against the Texans. And so it was.

The Texans came onto the field with a determination to win, personified by Fresno alum QB David Carr, who genuinely looked as though he was playing for victory. It was our thought that Houston's then-presumed-fired-and-now--fired Head Coach Dom Capers (whose bio has been removed already from the Texans' webite) would extend a middle finger to the Texans' ownership by going for the win in this game, and thereby granting the first pick to another team. The Niners' Coach Nolan II had his team working as hard as they could despite the obvious carrot to be had in losing. The Niners were rather overmatched early on in the game. Then, after the second quarter, unusual things transpired -- Carr was pulled due to injury for Tony Banks, one of the worst quarterbacks ever to play in the National Football League, and one-time holder of the record for most fumbles in a season. Oh, we thought to ourselves, someone must have put the call down to Capers' headset, threatening his kneecaps or his family or whatever he holds dear.

By SFist Christopher Rogers, contributing

is