Inman: 10 things that caught my eye in 49ers’ sleepy loss at Texans
HOUSTON – George Kittle sat on the 49ers’ bench with a ballcap on and his arms folded. Two minutes remained before halftime, and the Houston Texans were hogging the ball.
Quarterback C.J. Stroud had just raced 13 yards past 49ers safety Ji’Ayir Brown, setting up a field goal that pushed Houston’s lead to 16-0.
Kittle didn’t fault the 49ers’ defense for an inability to get off the field. He blamed the 49ers’ offense, which had no first downs in just 12 plays on its initial three drives.
“We didn’t do anything to help our defense the entire first half,” Kittle said. “Our defense was playing at a really high level, honestly, doing bend-but-don’t-break. Their kicker had, what, four field goals?”
Correct.
“Our defense played really well for the pieces that were lost during the game, guys who came out, guys who had to go in, guys we were already missing,” Kittle added.
That theme echoed through the locker room. Offensive players blamed themselves and valiantly tried to excuse the 49ers’ undermanned defense. “You never want to lose guys, especially core guys,” running back Christian McCaffrey said. “But it is a next-man-up mentality, and when that stuff happens, you have to be really detailed and eliminate all the other self-inflicted wounds.”
Make no mistake, the 49ers’ defense deserved blame, too. Key stat: C.J. Stroud was 11-for-11 on third downs.
One road loss, after a sleepy 10 a.m. PT kickoff, won’t derail the 49ers. Here are 10 things that caught my eye along the way:
1. SEARCH AND RESCUE
We’ll get to the 49ers’ defensive deficiencies in due time. Instead, let’s imagine an offense that soon could welcome back quarterback Brock Purdy and wide receivers Ricky Pearsall and Brandon Aiyuk, whether that’s next Sunday at the New York Giants or the following week against the Los Angeles Rams.
“Yeah, you can daydream and think about that stuff, and I can’t wait to start playing with those guys again,” Kittle said. “But currently we’re playing with what we’ve got, and that is enough to win games. But when you operate the way we did the first three or four drives – which is honestly really, really bad, from missed assignments to penalties – we just played bad football.”
Still, Kittle adores Pearsall’s positive energy, Purdy’s proven ability as the “best operator” of Shanahan’s 49ers offense, and Aiyuk’s $30-million-per-year capabilities.
2. TRADE TALK
The trade deadline is just over a week out, on Nov. 4. The 49ers’ need to add a defensive linemen grows weekly. Sam Okuayinonu got carted off with an ankle injury Sunday, joining the Rolodex of injured defensive ends: Nick Bosa, Bryce Huff, and, Yetur Gross-Matos.
Shanahan is holding the company line, that there is no greater urgency to make a trade and that the 49ers must weigh how detrimental a deal could cost them in the future.
Kittle, the 49ers’ elder statesman, said: “I don’t ever worry about the trade deadline. There’s nothing I can do. It’s not going to go into Kyle’s office and say, ‘Hey we need to trade for somebody.’ I just want to get back out there and play more football, because that was a horrible first half, it was a really bad performance by our offense, and we completely left our young defense out to dry today.”
3. BLUNT TAKE ON INJURIES
Shanahan is not playing the woe-is-me card when it comes to a roster crippled by injuries. “Injuries are part of the game,” Shanahan said. “I used to get frustrated. Now I’m more used to it over the course of my career.”
Now in his ninth season, Shanahan’s roster is more decimated than it’s ever been by the midway point, and that includes the 2020 campaign that also was marred by the COVID pandemic. Texans coach DeMeco Ryans was on Shanahan’s staff that season and still holds the franchise in high regard, saying: “The ‘Niners are great. Even though they are missing a lot of top guys still they found a way to pull it together, play a great game and we knew that was going to be the case. We didn’t fall into the trap of who they didn’t have.”
4. JENNINGS’ OFF-YEAR
Jauan Jennings made a fantastic 25-yard, third-and-long reception at the 2-yard line to set up the 49ers’ second touchdown. But too many bad plays overshadowed that gem in what’s been an inconsistent, sub-par season.
His facemask penalty nullified Mac Jones’ first-series scramble to midfield. Then there was Jennings’ drop at the Texans’ 20-yard line of a perfectly placed 45-yard bomb. Jones’ lone interception came when he targeted Jennings at the goal line with two minutes to go. Jones said he’d make that final pass 10 out of 10 times, attracted by Jennings’ one-on-one matchup.
Jennings’ stats this season: 18 catches, 212 yards, one touchdown, three games missed.
Jennings’ output at the Rams last season: 11 catches, 175 yards, three TDs.
5. LENOIR’S INTERCEPTION
Deommodore Lenoir made the 49ers’ first interception in 15 games, then he made for the end zone, only to get tackled 30 yards shy and running out the first half’s final seconds.
“I was trying to score. I should have slid,” Lenoir said. “I wasn’t aware how much time was left on the clock. I saw the end zone and I was trying to score to put us in a good position to win.”He wasn’t aware? That’s concerning. “It’ll be a good learning situation to kind of cover with all our guys tomorrow,” Shanahan said.
Lenoir said something else that raised an eyebrow, noting that a majority of the Texans’ plays came while he defended the backside, “so I didn’t see what was going or happening to cause us to lose today.” Do they not review plays on the sideline for everyone, involved or not?
6. TONGES’ TOUCHDOWN
Jake Tonges’ team-high fourth touchdown pass this season came on a 2-yard bullet, which Mac Jones actually intended for Kittle behind his fellow tight end Tonges.
“Both me and George were both open,” Tonges said. “At that point, we got it to a one-score game and we felt good about that. Just needed to finish it and take advantage of the momentum.”
Kittle commended Tonges’ “sticky fingers,” adding: “Mac told me he was throwing to me. I’m very glad he caught it. I would have been mad at him if he tipped it up and it went out of bounds. It’s good for tight ends to score on National Tight Ends Day.”
Kittle scored first, though, and said his 17-yard reception came on a “perfect ball” to the back-side number. “George made a good play and the line gave me enough time to rip it in there. I definitely want more of those,” Jones said.
7. McKIVITZ’S MATCHUP
Right tackle Colton McKivitz confidence wasn’t rattled by losing his tough matchup against Will Anderson Jr. “Lost too many, that’s how it was,” McKivitz said. “They have good players on the end in Will and Danielle. I didn’t do a good enough job on the edge and obviously they got pressure. … We just never got going from the beginning.”
Next up: the Giants’ Brian Burns, who is tied for the NFL lead with 10 sacks, and Kayvon Thibodeaux, who has just 2 ½ sacks but eight quarterback hits.
8. LAP DOGS
Winning the pregame coin toss and deferring to the second half is the 49ers’ ideal strategy, hoping they can score the final points of the first half (see: Kittle’s touchdown) then scoring again on the first series after halftime. Sunday, Anderson zipped past McKivitz and drilled Jones on a third-down incompletion for a speedy 3-and-out after halftime, keeping the 49ers behind 16-7. “We get some life at the end of the half then squandered a chance to lap them,” McKivitz said.
9. McCAFFREY’S WILL TO WIN
Christian McCaffrey was held under 100 scrimmage yards for the first time this season, squeezing out 25 yards on eight carries and 43 yards on three catches. It was his least single-game rushing output since 2018, so his fewest in his 45-game 49ers tenure.
McCaffrey’s yards per carry: 8, 0, 0, 9, 3, 9, 1, and, minus-5 yards. That last run started a fourth-quarter drive. His next two touches were receptions for 27 and 12 yards to keep alive comeback hopes, until an interception.
“Anytime you’re on the field you believe you’re going to win,” McCaffrey said. “Momentum swings are real. With our guys, we know we might have three horrible quarters, there’s still a lot of ball left and a game to win.”
10. LINEBACKER ISSUES
The Texans seized on Fred Warner’s absence by peppering the 49ers’ defense with short- to intermediate-range passes by Fields (30-of-39, season-high 318 yards, two touchdowns).
Tatum Bethune and Dee Winters combined for 25 tackles. Winters tried but couldn’t play through a third-quarter knee injury, and Curtis Robinson replaced him rather than rookie Nick Martin.
Strong-side linebacker Luke Gifford said of the 49ers’ patchwork defense: “You definitely miss those guys, but it all goes hand in hand, the coverage and the rush. We have to get to a point where we’re playing together and it’s team ball. We can get there for sure.”
Sure. Sure.