Hill benched, Smith's comeback bid falls short

HOUSTON – Michael Crabtree's first NFL game with the 49ers was overshadowed by a quarterback shake-up. Crabtree started in his NFL debut and had five receptions for 56 yards, only he caught most of those passes from Alex Smith. Shaun Hill was benched after a bad first half, and Smith, a former No. 1 draft pick, came off the bench to throw three touchdown passes to Vernon Davis for the 49ers in their 24-21 loss to the Houston Texans. In his first game since 2007, Smith sparked the 49ers in the second half and completed 15 of 22 passes for 206 yards. He made one blunder, a desperation throw that was intercepted by Eugene Wilson at the Houston 38-yard line in the final seconds. Steve Slaton scored two touchdowns as the Texans built a 21-0 halftime lead. "We get down, they get up, and they all of a sudden grabbed the momentum," Texans coach Gary Kubiak said. "But we made some big plays late, and defensively, Eugene made a big play so it was a ...