The best of the 49ers\u2019 three units Sunday were their special teams.<\/p>\n
That ought to tell you a lot about how they lost 26-15 Sunday to the Houston Texans in a road game that wasn\u2019t nearly as close as the score indicated.<\/p>\n
Near as I can tell, there\u2019s no such word as \u201cuncomplementary\u201d but there should if only to serve as a counterpoint to the longstanding notion of \u201ccomplementary\u201d football which during good times for the 49ers is one of their strengths.<\/p>\n
There were few good times against the Texans, and only time will tell whether the 49ers have been exposed as a team that wasn\u2019t as good as its record coming in, or simply had a bad day.\u00a0Because a team as depleted as the 49ers simply can\u2019t have a game where the offense doesn\u2019t serve the defense and vice-versa.<\/p>\n
\u201cFirst half was unacceptable, and the second half didn\u2019t get much better,\u201d coach Kyle Shanahan told reporters.<\/p>\n
The good news, aside from the 49ers having a 5-3 record, is that it only counts for one loss even if it felt much worse.<\/p>\n
The offense couldn\u2019t get first downs. The defense couldn\u2019t get off the field. It was a recipe for disaster. If the Texans had been better in the red zone \u2014 Kai Fairbairn kicked field goals of 33, 34, 37 and 30 yards \u2014 the score would have been much, much worse.<\/p>\n
![\"Houston](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/BNG-L-49ERS-1027-18.jpg\")
Houston Texans cornerback Kamari Lassiter, right, intercepts a pass intended for San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Jauan Jennings (15) during the second half of an NFL football game Sunday, Oct. 26, 2025, in Houston. (AP Photo\/Eric Gay)\u00a0<\/p>\n
The 49ers were outgained 475 to 223 and ran only 44 plays to Houston\u2019s 75. The Texans possessed the ball for 41:22 and had drives of 16, 9, 10, 11, 12 and 10 plays. The 49ers had one 12-play drive and no other longer than eight.<\/p>\n
With the 49ers defense already compromised without Nick Bosa and Fred Warner, they also lost defensive end Sam Okuayinonu, defensive tackle Jordan Elliott and linebacker Dee Winters during the course of the game.<\/p>\n
At halftime, the 49ers trailed only 16-7 but had run just 14 plays and were being outgained 299-65. A 46-yard kickoff return (hip, hip hooray!) by Brian Robinson set up the 49ers up for a short-field dive that ended with a 17-yard touchdown pass from Mac Jones to a tightly-guarded George Kittle.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe didn\u2019t do anything to help our defense in the entire first half,\u201d Kittle said. \u201cI thought they played well for the pieces that were lost in the first half. If you\u2019re holding a team to four field goals and two touchdowns, our offense has to score points.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jones finished 19 of 32 for 193 yards, two touchdowns and an end zone interception by Kwame Lassiter intended for Jauan Jennings with 2:01 to play. Like Kittle, he took ownership of some of the defensive struggles simply because the 49ers couldn\u2019t get things going.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you\u2019re out there for that many plays, it\u2019s hard not to get tired,\u201d Jones said. \u201cObviously you want to score points, but even just moving the ball and flipping the field can be good. I want to get us to the fourth quarter, and our defense has come up clutch in those situations.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Mac](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/BNG-L-49ERS-1027-4.jpg\")
Quarterback Mac Jones was only sacked twice but spent much of the afternoon dodging the Houston pass rush. Mac Jones #10 of the San Francisco 49ers reacts in the first quarter of the game against the Houston Texans at NRG Stadium on Oct. 26, 2025 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Tim Warner\/Getty Images)\u00a0Getty Images<\/p>\n
Defensive coordinator Robert Saleh spent much of the week dodging bouquets for the job he\u2019s done with the 49ers\u2019 defense without Nick Bosa and Fred Warner, in particular last week\u2019s 20-10 win over Atlanta. He tried blitzing Houston early with Malik Mustapha and Winters but to no avail in terms of getting after the quarterback.<\/p>\n
The Texans, with Will Anderson Jr. torturing right tackle Colton McKivitz all afternoon, had no such problems.<\/p>\n
Without a hint of a pass rush, things came way too easily for Houston as C.J. Stroud was 30-for-39 for 318 yards and two touchdowns and 157 yards rushing.<\/p>\n
And the hard truth in a \u201cnext man up\u201d world is there\u2019s a reason the next man is, well, the next man. Because he\u2019s not as good as the one in front of him.<\/p>\n
Linebacker Tatum Bethune wasn\u2019t blaming the offense for their defensive showing.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were out there for a long time because of us,\u201d Bethune said. \u201cWe\u2019ve got to get off the field. We\u2019ve just got to get it done.\u201d<\/p>\n
He got no argument from Lenoir.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need to be more locked in on the details and be making those plays and getting off the field so we can get the ball back to our offense,\u201d Lenoir said.<\/p>\n
![\"Deommodore](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/BNG-L-49ERS-1026_64c1f9.jpg\")
Deommodore Lenoir #2 of the San Francisco 49ers tackles Jared Wayne #89 of the Houston Texans in the first quarter of the game at NRG Stadium on Oct. 26, 2025 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Alex Slitz\/Getty Images)\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lenoir cost the 49ers\u2019 a potential three points when he intercepted Stroud on the last play of the half and failed to get down so Eddy Pi\u00f1eiro could attempt a long-distance field goal to make it 16-10. Imagine being outgained 299-65 and still being within six points. Instead, the clock ran out.<\/p>\n
\u201cI should have slid,\u201d Lenoir said. \u201cI wasn\u2019t aware of how much time was left on the clock.\u201d<\/p>\n
The 49ers are doing their best to avoid blaming all the injuries, even if it\u2019s obvious they\u2019ve put them in a precarious position when it comes to getting to 10 wins.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t focus on\u00a0 a lot of the stuff that the outside world focuses on because you don\u2019t have time,\u201d running back Christian McCaffrey said. \u201cWe\u2019ll come in watch tape, move on to the next week. We want it to be about urgency and diligence.\u201d<\/p>\n
Added Lenoir: \u201cWe don\u2019t want the injuries to happen, but they keep happening. It\u2019s something we have to deal with. Everybody has got to be great.\u201d<\/p>\n
Which puts the 49ers in the difficult position of doing more with less. Coming into the game, the 49ers\u2019 5-2 record didn\u2019t seem possible for a team with nine sacks, no interceptions and only a plus-7 scoring differential.<\/p>\n
Being a better whole than the sum of the parts is a difficult challenge over the course of a 17-game season. The 49ers didn\u2019t come close to managing that against Houston, and even with a 5-3 record getting to 10 or more wins seems like a lot to ask even with Brock Purdy and Brandon Aiyuk possibly retuning soon, and the trade deadline approaching on Nov. 4.<\/p>\n
\u201cCredit to them,\u201d Shanahan said. \u201cThey kicked our ass and we have to take it like men and be pissed off and hopefully come back next week and play better than we did this week.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"San](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/BNG-L-49ERS-1027-20.jpg\")
San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan watches from the sidelines during the second half of an NFL football game against the Houston Texans Sunday, Oct. 26, 2025, in Houston. (AP Photo\/Eric Gay)\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Originally Published: October 26, 2025 at 3:52 PM PDT<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The best of the 49ers\u2019 three units Sunday were their special teams. That ought to tell you a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":24720,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[1818,17739,8757,17180,299,298,19103,101,103,102,104,106,105],"class_list":{"0":"post-24719","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-francisco","8":"tag-49ers","9":"tag-deommodore-lenoir","10":"tag-george-kittle","11":"tag-houston-texans","12":"tag-kyle-shanahan","13":"tag-mac-jones","14":"tag-robert-saleh","15":"tag-san-francisco","16":"tag-san-francisco-headlines","17":"tag-san-francisco-news","18":"tag-sf","19":"tag-sf-headlines","20":"tag-sf-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24719","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24719"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24719\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24720"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24719"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24719"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24719"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}