left tackle Trent Williams<\/a> anchoring the offensive line and tight end George Kittle back in the fray for a second straight game, don\u2019t expect McCaffrey to retreat from the spotlight.<\/p>\n\u201cThat\u2019ll be their main focus and their main game plan, and rightfully so,\u201d Texans coach DeMeco Ryans said. \u201cBecause he\u2019s such a dynamic player, he changes the game for them offensively. Not just what he does but where he aligns.\u201d<\/p>\n
McCaffrey\u2019s played 84% of the offensive snaps, and while he\u2019s excused from Wednesday practices for recover, he\u2019s constantly recalibrating a body that was waylaid by Achilles and knee issues last year. \u201cIt\u2019s like the Formula One strategy of putting the car in the garage and figuring out what\u2019s going on,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
2. BLOCK THE EDGE<\/p>\n
As McCaffrey noted, the 49ers have the No. 1 passing attack in the NFL. Mac Jones will make his fourth straight start in place of Brock Purdy (toe), and he\u2019ll again be unable to target Ricky Pearsall a fourth straight game.<\/p>\n
Coming after Jones will be the NFL\u2019s fifth-ranked pass defense and an overall unit that\u2019s the hardest to score against. Left tackle Trent Williams will match up often against former offseason sparring partner Danielle Hunter while right tackle Colton McKivitz opposes Will Anderson, Jones\u2019 former Alabama teammate and the 2023 draft\u2019s No. 3 pick. Hunter and Anderson each have four sacks, with Anderson producing a strip-sack fumble recovery for a touchdown in Monday\u2019s loss at Seattle.<\/p>\n
The 49ers also must look out for safety Jalen Pitre as well as linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair, who got his start on the Niners. \u201cThey all go hard, they play with a certain style and are one of the best, if not tied for the best, D-Lines we\u2019ve seen,\u201d said coach Kyle Shanahan, who first became an NFL playcaller as the 2008 Houston Texans offensive coordinator.<\/p>\n
Kittle is coming off his first career game without a catch and he may have to help block, but then again, that\u2019s why Luke Farrell commanded a steep contract in free agency.<\/p>\n
The NFL again is recognizing National Tight Ends Day, so Kittle needs to leak out and join McCaffrey, Jauan Jennings and Kendrick Bourne in Jones\u2019 crosshairs.<\/p>\n
3. MYKEL\u2019S BREAKOUT GAME<\/p>\n
Mykel Williams, the 49ers\u2019 top draft pick, is now their No. 1 defensive end with Bryce Huff (hamstring) joining Nick Bosa (knee) and Yetur Gross-Matos (hamstring) on the sidelines. As much as Williams enjoys moving from the edge to the \u201cquickness\u201d of playing inside on pass downs, the 49ers have a surplus of interior linemen and need Williams to show up as an outside rusher more than ever.<\/p>\n
But he knows he can replicate Huff\u2019s speed or play beyond his means. \u201cThe temptation is real, because you want to make plays, but you have to play within the scheme and let the plays come to you,\u201d said Williams, who has one sack. (Defensive end Sam Okuayinonu and nickel back Upton Stout also have one each to account for the 49ers\u2019 total outside of Huff and Bosa.)<\/p>\n
As Bosa recovers from season-ending knee reconstruction, he\u2019s returned to the 49ers\u2019 facility and Williams is again seizing on his advice. \u201cI go to the training room and chop it up, talk about what he\u2019s seeing on the tape,\u201d Williams said. \u201cHe\u2019s still giving me pointers. I\u2019m still leaning on him.\u201d<\/p>\n
If Williams isn\u2019t matching up with rookie left tackle Aireontae Ersery or veteran right tackle Tytus Howard, the 49ers could pit him against 11th-year left guard Laken Tomlinson, who played for the 49ers from 2017-21 and spent the following two years on Robert Saleh\u2019s Jets.<\/p>\n
4. \u2018EVERYONE CAN HATE YOU\u2019<\/p>\n
Saleh is seven games into reprising his role as the 49ers defensive coordinator. How on this NFL earth did his unit allow only 10 points last game while Fred Warner cheered from a suite with a just-repaired ankle?<\/p>\n
\u201cGood players,\u201d Saleh said. \u201cI\u00a0know it\u2019s a young group, but they\u2019re all excited. \u2026 There\u2019s always an opportunity for somebody to step into the shoes that have been there for a while.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tatum Bethune stepped into Warner\u2019s middle linebacker role, delivered 10 tackles against the Falcons and now makes his encore start.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can\u2019t take a deep breath. You\u2019ve got to step on the gas and keep doing it over and over and over again,\u201d Saleh said. \u201cThis league is a proving ground week-in and week-out. As much as they love you this week, everyone can hate you next week.\u201d<\/p>\n
As he did last week, Bethune did extra-credit homework studying at safety Malik Mustapha\u2019s house. Bethune also is enjoying his linebacker pairing with linebacker Dee Winters, saying, \u201cWe\u2019re like brothers and it reminds me of college.\u201d<\/p>\n
5. DON\u2019T OVERLOOK TEXANS<\/p>\n
Houston will be without wide receiver Nico Collins and Christian Kirk. That\u2019s good for the 49ers. But it\u2019s only good if they don\u2019t let unheralded backups seize their opportunities to make plays, something the 49ers failed to do two weeks ago in Tampa Bay where two receivers scored their first career touchdowns (credit: Baker Mayfield) in place of Mike Evans, Chris Godwin and Emeka Egbuka.<\/p>\n
C.J. Stroud looked helpless Monday night without Collins and Kirk. Tight end Dalton Schultz will be Stroud\u2019s go-to guy, so the 49ers\u2019 linebackers and safeties better not lose track of him. But Stroud shouldn\u2019t be shy in trying to find rookie receivers Jayden Higgins and Jaylin Noel. After all, the 49ers defense has gone without an interception in an NFL-record 14 consecutive games. Deommodore Lenoir (quadriceps bruise), Renardo Green (toe) and Stout (ankle) are not at optimal health.\n<\/p>\n
The artificial turf will make for a fast track, but the 49ers are 3-0 on non-grass surfaces this season. If they win Sunday, they\u2019ll match their overall win total from last season (6-11) and they\u2019ll be alone atop the NFC West, seeing how the Rams (5-2) and Seahawks (5-2) are both on byes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"HOUSTON \u2013 Apologies to data analysts and numbers crunchers but one of Stanford\u2019s most distinguished alumni has something…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":20719,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[13596,300,56,58,57,13597,3607,80,13599,154],"class_list":["post-20718","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-houston","tag-49ers-hq","tag-football","tag-houston","tag-houston-headlines","tag-houston-news","tag-inside-sports","tag-latest-headlines","tag-nfl","tag-san-francisco-49ers","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20718","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20718"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20718\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20719"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20718"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20718"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20718"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}