Despite the myriad of injuries the San Francisco 49ers have suffered throughout this 2025 season, which is unbelievably close to being at its halfway point, by the way, Kyle Shanahan & Co. still somehow managed to win five of their first seven games, thus putting themselves in first place in the NFC West and second place in the conference as a whole leading into their Week 8 matchup with the Houston Texans.
But all that has changed now, as San Francisco took a humiliating 26-15 loss to the Texans this past Sunday, one that exposed issues on both sides of the ball.
Not only did the Niners' offense gain a season-low 223 total yards, amassing just 175 through the air after another rough outing for Mac Jones and an abysmal 48 on the ground, but the defense also surrendered a season-worst 475 yards (318 passing, 157 rushing) to a Houston offense that had only surpassed the 400-yard mark once all year leading into this matchup.
With the loss, the 49ers dropped to 5-3 for the season and ultimately took a significant drop in the standings as a result.
49ers now sit in 7th place in NFC standings heading into Week 9
Here's an overall view of the NFC playoff picture heading into Week 9. The top seven teams in the conference (four division winners, three wild cards), of course, earn postseason berths.
Updated NFC playoff picture
Green Bay Packers (5-1-1, 1st NFC North)
Philadelphia Eagles (6-2, 1st NFC East)
Tampa Bay Buccaneers (6-2, 1st NFC South)
Seattle Seahawks (5-2, 1st NFC West)
Detroit Lions (5-2, 2nd NFC North)
Los Angeles Rams (5-2, 2nd NFC West)
San Francisco 49ers (5-3, 3rd NFC West)
Chicago Bears (4-3, 3rd NFC North)
Carolina Panthers (4-4, 2nd NFC South)
Dallas Cowboys (3-4-1, 2nd NFC East)
Atlanta Falcons (3-4, 3rd NFC South)
Minnesota Vikings (3-4, 4th NFC North)
Washington Commanders (3-5, 3rd NFC East)
Arizona Cardinals (2-5, 4th NFC West)
New York Giants (2-6, 4th NFC East)
New Orleans Saints (1-7, 4th NFC South)
As you can see, with the loss to Houston, the 49ers have now fallen into third place in the NFC West behind both the Seattle Seahawks and the Los Angeles Rams, both of whom were on a bye in Week 8. Seattle and Los Angeles have yet to play one another this season, with matchups set for Weeks 11 and 16, but the Seahawks currently own the tiebreaker due to having a better record within the division (1-1 to 0-1).
The good news for the Niners at this point is that they've already beaten both teams, taking a Week 1 win over Seattle and a Week 4 overtime victory against Los Angeles. And their Week 3 win over the Arizona Cardinals makes them a perfect 3-0 in divisional play, which could obviously come into play down the line.
What could also come into play, however, is the tiebreaker involving common opponents. And with the Seahawks and Rams having both beaten the Texans already, this loss could come back to bite San Francisco.
From an overall standpoint, the 49ers have also fallen down to the No. 7 slot in the NFC and now sit just one game ahead of the Chicago Bears in the win column. Thankfully for San Francisco, the Bears took a Week 8 loss of their own to the Baltimore Ravens. Had things gone differently in that game, the Niners would actually be on the outside looking in. The 49ers and Bears will actually meet up in Week 17, which could end up being a very crucial contest for both teams.
In the meantime, San Francisco will look to get back on track this Sunday against the two-win New York Giants.