The San Francisco 49ers entered their Week 8 battle with the Houston Texans at NRG Stadium on Sunday as favorites, but Kyle Shanahan’s team was handed a 26-15 loss to fall to 5-3.

San Francisco didn’t have Brock Purdy again, putting Mac Jones under center as the starting quarterback. However, Jones and the offense struggled for most of the game, failing to put sustained drives together and find the end zone often enough.

Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud also gashed Robert Saleh’s defense despite him missing his top three wide receivers (Tank Dell, Nico Collins and Christian Kirk). They also allowed Houston to run the ball better than they have for most of the year.

After an ugly loss, there were plenty of 49ers who shouldn’t be thrilled with their performance and will need to put in extra effort on the practice field this week before they play again.

WR Jauan Jennings

Jennings finished the day with four receptions for 45 yards, but his performance will probably be remembered for the drop on the deep ball from Jones on the second drive of the second half. He was also called for a face mask on Jones’ first-down scramble on their first drive of the game.

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San Francisco’s pass protection was horrendous throughout the game. The Texans may have only recorded two sacks on the day, but Jones was under constant duress and was hit multiple times. The offensive line also struggled to provide lanes for running back Christian McCaffrey, who rushed for just 25 yards on 3.1 yards per attempt.

Rookie left guard Connor Colby, who is playing for the injured Ben Bartch, even appeared to get benched again for the second game in a row, as Nick Zakelj replaced him late in contest.

The pass rush

Without Nick Bosa, Bryce Huff and Yetur Gross-Matos, the 49ers‘ pass-rush group didn’t have much to work with. They failed to get after Stroud and make him feel uncomfortable. The only times when the former first-round pick was truly under pressure were when extra rushers came from the secondary. Things got even more difficult when Sam Okuayinonu was carted to the locker room in the fourth quarter. This performance may force San Francisco to make a trade.

Third-down defense

Houston entered the week with an abysmal 30.67% third-down conversion rate, which was good for 31st in the NFL. On Sunday, San Francisco couldn’t get them off the field. They converted 9-of-16 third downs, and on five of their failures, they converted one fourth down and kicked four field goals on the next play. That math shows that the 49ers forced just two punts in the whole game, and they came on back-to-back drives in the fourth quarter when the Texans were trying to salt the game away.

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