Your San Francisco 49ers looked jet-lagged and hung over for their early Sunday morning game, scoring their fewest points all season, and giving up nearly 500 yards in a 26-15 loss to the oddly dressed Houston Texans.
It almost felt like a USFL game watching the San Francisco 49ers’ 26-15 loss to the Houston Texans Sunday morning, with the Texans wearing some unrecognizable and bizarre alternate uniforms, and changing their end zones to say “H-Town” instead of "Houston." (Do people really call Houston “H-Town?) But it was the 49ers who played like the USFL team, allowing the Texans to roll up 475 yards of total offense, and not even notching a single first down until there was less than a minute left in the first half, at which point they were already losing 16-0.
Unstoppable last week, running back Christian McCaffrey had a measly 25 yards rushing on eight carries. And the Niners gave up big plays to Houston all day, clearly missing defensive end Nick Bosa and linebacker Fred Warner, both of whom are out for the season.
There was occasional hope for a comeback. That aforementioned first time the 49ers got a first down led to a quick touchdown right before halftime that made the score a seemingly manageable 16-7. And it was a touchdown catch by George Kittle on National Tight Ends Day, a meaningless holiday which Kittle helped create.
And the 49ers did get their first interception of the season right before halftime, courtesy of cornerback Deommodore Lenoir. Some fans complained that Lenoir did not run out of bounds to save some clock, with Lenoir instead hoping he could run it back all the way for a pick-six right before the half. He ended up fumbling the ball anyway as time expired.
This game was in blowout territory throughout most of the proceedings, but the Niners did turn it into a “So you’re saying there’s a chance” situation with a late-third quarter touchdown to the pride of Los Gatos Jake Tonges and a successful two-point conversion to wide receiver Demarcus Robinson. Eight-point game at the end of the third quarter! Anything could happen!
But not much good happened for the 49ers. They let the Texans score again (on a field goal, but still) to make it a two-score deficit, and the Texans effectively ended the game by intercepting backup journeyman quarterback Mac Jones with a little under two minutes left in the game. The Texans did not have to punt until there was 4:23 left in the fourth quarter.
Image: NFL.com
And so for the first time all season, the 49ers are no longer in first place in the NFC West. But they are currently only a half-game out of first place, and that thus-far undefeated record within the division is certainly going to come in handy as we head into November.
Image: NFL.com
And hey, it’s that time of year when there’s already a playoff picture! If the season ended today, the Niners would still make the playoffs, albeit as the lowest-seeded Number 7 team in the NFC. So they are not on the outside looking in, or at least, not at this point they aren’t.
This coming Sunday will be another 10 am PT morning game (though on the morning we just set the clocks back, so that makes getting up easier) against the New York Giants in New Jersey. Yesterday the Giants lost their star rookie running back Cam Skattebo for the season, so that team is pretty well hobbled by injuries too.
Related:49ers Get Whomped 30-19 In Tampa Bay, Lose Star Linebacker to Injury for the Rest of the Season [SFist]
Image: HOUSTON, TEXAS - OCTOBER 26: Will Anderson Jr. #51 of the Houston Texans hits Mac Jones #10 of the San Francisco 49ers in the third quarter of the game at NRG Stadium on October 26, 2025 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Tim Warner/Getty Images)