Was the 49ers' biggest problem in Sunday's loss to the Texans their defense, which allowed 475 yards, 23 first downs, and nine third-down conversions? Or their offense, which struggled to stay on the field while the team fell into a 16-0 first half hole?
49ers tight end George Kittle says the blame lies on his side of the ball, and perhaps he has a point.
While the numbers didn't look good for the defense in the 49ers' 26-15 loss at NRG Stadium in Houston, the offense didn't do much to help them out, especially early on. The offense managed just two first downs and 65 total yards in the first half and held onto the ball for just over five minutes of playing time while struggling to protect quarterback Mac Jones. Throw in a few penalties along the way and the 49ers were lucky to be down just 16-7 at halftime.
"When you operate the way that we did in those first three, four drives, which is just honestly, really, really bad, is what I would say, from (missed assignments), the procedure penalties, to holdings, whatever they were, I mean we just played bad football on offense today," Kittle told reporters on Sunday.
The Texans took up almost ten minutes of the first quarter on their first drive, which stretched 16 plays and 57 yards. But it ended in a field goal, which was a victory for the defense after staying on the field as long as they did. The offense then committed two penalties on their first possession before punting back to the Texans after four plays, then the Texans marched downfield on another deep drive before being held to another field goal. The Texans added ten more points before the half, while 49ers went through two three-and-outs on offense before adding a touchdown late in the second quarter after a kick return by Brian Robinson Jr. combined with a face mask penalty started them out at the Houston 35-yard line. Kittle applauded the defense for not giving up more points than they did, especially considering the fact they had multiple players leave the field due to injury.
"I thought our defense played really well," Kittle said. "For the pieces that were lost during the game, guys who had to come out for the game, guys who had to go in for the game, guys who were already missing, like I thought our defense played really well. They were flying around hitting people. And if you're holding the team to four field goals and just two touchdowns, our offense has to score points. And when you're three and out, three and out, three and out, three and out, three and out, we're not really doing anything to help our young defense who's adjusting and trying to figure out the way that they want to play football. So, I think this is really on the offense and I was really proud of how our defense played today."
Sunday's game was a far cry from the one the 49ers played just one week earlier where they totaled 174 rushing yards and 23 first downs in a 20-10 win over the Atlanta Falcons. The running game didn't get going against the Texans, however, as the 49ers totaled 10 attempts for 48 yards. Running back Christian McCaffrey had eight carries for 25 yards against the Texans after going over 100 yards against the Falcons.
"When you have 12 plays in the first half, you can't get a rhythm, you can't run the ball," Kittle said. "So that's what it is. I mean, how many attempts did Christian really have? Or we just didn't have any attempts. So, the run game is because you can stay on the field, you convert third downs, you're on the field, you're having 10-play drives, that's when the run game (kicks in). Credit to them, yes. They completely took us out of it because again, we had 12 plays until the last drive. So, it's like we couldn't get Christian going. We couldn't get our run game going. We're still getting decent chunks, but it's just like we're then we're not converting on third down, so then we're not running the ball. And then second half, we have to throw the ball every single time."
Kittle's return from a hamstring injury that kept him on injured reserve since Week 1 was credited as part of the reason the 49ers were so successful on the ground against the Falcons after struggling to put up big numbers in his absence. But the mood was certainly different after what happened in Houston on Sunday. More than anything, Kittle seemed eager to move beyond the loss to the Texans as soon as possible and focus on the offense's next opportunity, which will come on the road next Sunday against the New York Giants.
"I just want to get back out there and play more football because that was a horrible first half," Kittle said. "It was a really bad performance by our offense, and I think we completely left our young defense out to dry today because I thought they played really well."