The Texans beat the 49ers 26-15, and it wasn’t that close.
Houston has won three of its past four games to improve to 3-4, while San Francisco fell to 5-3.
The Texans outgained the 49ers 475 to 223, had 31 more plays, 11 more first downs and won the time of possessions 41:22 to 18:38. The Texans did not punt until 4:13 remained.
The only reason it wasn’t worse was the Texans’ inability to score touchdowns as they went 1-for-5 in the red zone. Houston settled for chip-shot field goals of 33, 34, 37 and 30 yards by Ka’imi Fairbairn after stalling at the San Francisco 15, 16, 18 and 11.
C.J. Stroud threw touchdown passes of 12 yards to Jayden Higgins and 30 yards to Xavier Hutchinson. Despite missing wide receivers Nico Collins and Christian Kirk, Stroud completed 30 of 39 passes for 318 yards with two touchdowns and an interception that came on the final play of the half.
Hutchinson caught five passes for 69 yards, and rookie Woody Marks ran for 62 yards on 11 carries.
Texans cornerback Kamari Lassiter intercepted Mac Jones in the end zone with 1:56 left to all but end any thought of a San Francisco comeback. The 49ers did get the ball back at midfield with 53 seconds left, but Will Anderson and Danielle Hunter combined for a 10-yard sack of Jones on first down.
Jones was 19-of-32 for 193 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. He threw a 17-yard touchdown pass to George Kittle and a 2-yarder to Jake Tonges. Christian McCaffrey had eight carries for only 25 yards and three catches for 43 yards.
The 49ers lost three defensive players in the second half. Defensive lineman Sam Okuayinonu (ankle) was carted to the training room. His injury came after defensive lineman Jordan Elliot (ankle) and linebacker Dee Winters (knee) were ruled out.
