San Francisco horrendous in NFL Week 8 defeat

Jones needed a big day and couldn’t come up with one thanks in part to a ferocious Houston pass rush. The 49ers backup QB never got in a rhythm and finished 19-for-32 for 193 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. His inability to evade pass rushers and extend plays is a major problem in games like the one they played Sunday.

The 49ers appeared to be trying to design touches for Kittle after his catchless outing in his Week 7 return from a hamstring injury. He hauled in four of his five targets for 43 yards and a touchdown.

It was a slow day for the 49ers’ star running back. He had eight carries for 25 yards and caught three passes for 43 yards. Houston had a great plan to eliminate him from the passing game and the game script forced the 49ers to abandon the run game early.

It was a fitting end for the 49ers. Jones took a shot to the end zone, targeting Jauan Jennings on the final play before the two-minute warning. His throw was intercepted by Texans cornerback Kamari Lassiter, ending San Francisco’s last gasp attempt at a miracle comeback.

Houston’s first punt of the day came with 4:21 to go in the fourth quarter. It was a beauty that pinned the 49ers at their own 1. It was that kind of day for the 49ers.

Another drive, another failure for the 49ers offense. They needed to answer Houston’s field goal with at least a field goal of their own. Instead they lost a yard and went three-and-out with Mac Jones’ third-down throw sailing through the hands of rookie WR Jordan Watkins. They just haven’t been good enough and it showed in that crucial series.

Once again San Francisco was able to get off the field on third down, but not before Houston got into chip shot field goal range. Kai Fairbairn kicked a 30-yard field goal to put Houston ahead 26-15 with 9:41 to go. 11 points may be insurmountable for the 49ers against this very good Texans defense. Houston is now 9-for-14 on third downs, but four of their failed conversions have led to short field goals. Just not a good day for San Francisco’s defense.

Okuayinonu struggled to walk off the field after appearing to tweak his ankle on a pass rush. The 49ers are running out of defensive linemen.

San Francisco has been outgained 407 to 148, yet they’re somehow within striking distance. They’re still in search of their first real stop of the game. Houston has scored on every drive save for the interception CJ Stroud threw to close the first half.

San Francisco looked dead in the water with a third-and-17 in Houston territory, but Mac Jones drilled a throw in to Jauan Jennings who made a sensational catch at the 1 to set up a touchdown pass to Tonges one play later. More important than the touchdown, the 49ers converted the two-point conversion on a throw to WR Demarcus Robinson. It’s 23-15 after the conversion, and the 49ers are somehow still alive in a game where they’ve been roundly outplayed.

San Francisco finally got back into Sunday’s game in Houston and pinned the Texans at their own 6 with a punt. The poor field position didn’t matter. The 49ers defense continues to be mystified by the Texans offense which is down its top two wide receivers. Houston went 94 yards on 12 plays and capped the drive with a touchdown to Hutchinson on a third-and-7. Houston entered the game 31st in the NFL in third down conversion rate at 30.7 percent. Hutchinson’s touchdown made them 8-of-12 Sunday. The Texans now lead 23-7.

It’s been a long day for the 49ers defense in more ways than one. While they can’t get off the field against a patchwork Houston receiving corps and offensive line, they also can’t stay healthy. Winters is the latest San Francisco defender to go down. He was tended to by trainers after making a hard hit on a Texans wide receiver on a play that ended in yet another Houston third-down conversion. They’re now six-for-10 on third downs.

Texans kicker Kai Fairbairn botched the second half kickoff and didn’t make it to the landing zone, giving the 49ers good field position at their own 40 to start the third quarter. San Francisco is going to need some breaks if they’re going to climb back into this game.

San Francisco was dominated for the first 29 minutes, but they stole momentum back with a touchdown and then an interception to end the half. Lenoir grabbed an overthrow to secure the 49ers’ first interception since Week 11 of last season. While the takeaway was nice, Lenoir should have probably hit the ground to give the 49ers a chance to kick a field goal at the end of the half. He was in field goal range with a few seconds left, but tried to turn it into a touchdown and was tackled with no time left.

San Francisco took advantage of good field position and needed only four plays to go 35 yards to the end zone. The 49ers got a first down with an 18-yard throw to Kendrick Bourne on the first play. Then two incompletions put them in a third-and-10. Mac Jones fired a strike into a well-covered George Kittle who made a sensational contested grab for a 17-yard touchdown to cut Houston’s lead to 16-7 with 25 seconds left in the second quarter.

San Francisco needed a spark and got one from their backup RB on special teams. Robinson broke free and got dragged down by the facemask at midfield. The facemask drew a flag and put the 49ers at Houston’s 35 to start a huge drive.

The 49ers defense has done a decent job keeping Houston out of the end zone and once again limited them to a field goal for the third time. The problem is Houston has had the ball four times in the first half and they scored on all of them. The bigger deal for San Francisco will be getting points before the half. They’ve been horrendous offensively and they’ll only have 58 seconds to get points. They do receive the second-half kickoff.

Elliott appeared to tweak his knee and was tended to by trainers before heading to the bench. The 49ers can’t afford many more injuries on the defensive line.

Collins was back in the game to start the 49ers defensive series following their latest punt.

Houston’s defense is putting on a show against Mac Jones and the 49ers offense. Jones completed a throw to Jauan Jennings on a third-and-10 … it went for five yards and the 49ers were forced to punt for the third time in three drives. San Francisco has 30 yards on 10 plays. A truly putrid effort.

Houston’s offense is having an easy time against the banged up 49ers defense, and their first touchdown of the game Sunday was the easiest one they’ll get all year. Higgins got open in the middle of the field where no 49ers were close to him and QB CJ Stroud found him for a 12-yard touchdown to make it 13-0 and a blowout may be afoot in Houston.

Collins went down after a short run by Houston. He was helped off the field by trainers and went to the medical tent. It looked like he might have been favoring his elbow, but the nature of the injury is unclear.

It appears San Francisco has no viable offensive plan to move the ball against Houston. Their third-and-3 play was a Mac Jones throw to Demarcus Robinson for a loss of a yard. Perhaps most head scratching of all is that Christian McCaffrey ran for seven yards on first down, and then the 49ers passed it twice where Jones is forced to deal with immediate pressure. Not a good start for either head coach Kyle Shanahan or defensive coordinator Robert Saleh.

Houston closed the first quarter with a fourth-and-5 at the San Francisco 16-yard line. Fairbairn drilled a 34-yard field goal to put the Texans ahead 6-0 just three seconds into the second quarter. The 49ers will finally get the ball back after holding it for fewer than two minutes in the first quarter.

Ugly, ugly first 15 minutes for the visitors. San Francisco is typically good in 10:00am Pacific Time kickoffs, but they looked sluggish to start Sunday’s game. They were outgained 138-18 and lost the time of possession battle 13:16 to 1:44. Houston is also in short field goal range to start the second quarter.

This is an embarrassing start for the 49ers defense. This tied Houston’s longest play of the year.

The first two series of Sunday’s game don’t paint an optimistic picture for the 49ers. Thanks to a handful of penalties on their opening drive, they managed only three yards on four plays and punted. Quarterback Mac Jones was under duress on all of his dropbacks. San Francisco is getting dominated in the trenches early.

San Francisco’s defense did well to hold Houston to a field goal. They had a third-and-1 at the 49ers’ 14 and ran it with running back Nick Chubb. 49ers safety Ji’Ayir Brown quickly filled the gap and stacked up Chubb for a loss of a yard, leading to a 33-yard field goal from Houston kicker Kai Fairbairn. The drive wasn’t particularly promising for San Francisco overall. They struggled to get pressure against Houston’s dreadful offensive line, and quarterback CJ Stroud looked too comfortable finding open receivers when the 49ers blitzed. The Texans had the ball for 9:39 and went 57 yards on 16 plays. There’ll be lots to clean up for Robert Saleh and his defense, but it starts up front where San Francisco needs its defensive line to win some one-on-one reps.