Houston's Ryans faces former boss San Francisco's Shanahan for 1st time when Texans host Niners

BetMGM line: 49ers by 1 ½.

Against the spread: 49ers 4-3, Texans 2-4.

Series record: 49ers lead 4-1.

Last meeting: 49ers beat Texans 23-7 on Jan. 2, 2022, in California.

Last week: 49ers beat Falcons 20-10; Texans lost to Seahawks 27-19.

49ers offense: overall (6), rush (25), pass (1), scoring (T23)

49ers defense: overall (14), rush (13), pass (18), scoring (7)

Texans offense: overall (23), rush (18), pass (23), scoring (21)

Texans defense: overall (4), rush (10), pass (5), scoring (1)

Turnover differential: 49ers minus-5; Texans plus-4

49ers player to watch

RB Christian McCaffrey had 201 yards from scrimmage last week and leads the NFL with 981 yards from scrimmage on the season entering Week 8. He has had at least 100 in every game and can be the first RB to do that in the first eight games of a season since David Johnson in 2016. McCaffrey has 465 yards rushing and 515 yards receiving this season. The only other player with at least 450 of each in the first seven games of a season was Marshall Faulk in 2000, when he went on to win AP MVP.

Texans player to watch

DE Will Anderson had five tackles and a strip-sack that he pounced on for a touchdown against the Seahawks. The third-year player, who won AP Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2023, has 33 tackles for losses in 35 games and has 5 ½ sacks combined in his past six home games.

Key matchup

Houston’s pass defense against Mac Jones and San Francisco’s top-ranked passing game. The Texans rank fifth in the NFL by allowing just 179 yards passing a game and their seven interceptions are tied for sixth entering Week 8. Jones, who will likely start again Sunday with Brock Purdy still dealing with an injury, has been strong in five games filling in for him to help the 49ers average an NFL-best 271.3 yards passing a game. Jones has won four of his five starts this season, but he has thrown three interceptions with no touchdowns in the past two games combined.

Key injuries

49ers: Purdy (toe) could miss his fourth straight game and sixth this season. ... WR Ricky Pearsall (knee), DE Bryce Huff (hamstring), C Jake Brendel (hamstring) and DL Yetur Gross-Matos (hamstring) all could be out this week. ... CB Deommodore Lenoir (quadriceps) is questionable this week.

Texans: Star receiver Nico Collins could miss the game after sustaining a concussion Monday night. … WR Christian Kirk’s status is uncertain after he missed Monday’s game with a hamstring injury.

Series notes

San Francisco has won the past three games in the series. … Houston’s only win in the series came in a 24-21 victory in 2009. … The first game in the series came on Jan. 1, 2006, when the 49ers got a 20-17 win in overtime.

Stats and stuff

Houston coach DeMeco Ryans worked as an assistant on San Francisco coach Kyle Shanahan's staff from 2017-22. ... San Francisco had a season-high 174 yards rushing last week after being held to fewer than 85 in each of the previous five games. ... Jones leads the NFL with 280.8 yards passing per game. ... TE George Kittle had no catches last week in his return from a hamstring injury, marking his first time without a reception in 127 games in the regular season and playoffs. ... McCaffrey leads the NFL with 52 first downs rushing and receiving. ... K Eddy Pineiro is 17 for 17 on FGs for the most consecutive makes to begin a career with the 49ers. ... San Francisco has an NFL-record 14 straight games without intercepting a pass, covering 442 straight attempts. ... Texans QB C.J. Stroud has thrown three touchdown passes without an interception in two home games this season. He has had at least one touchdown pass in 18 of his 19 home games. … Rookie RB Woody Marks had his second career touchdown reception last week. … Rookie WR Jaylin Noel had a season-high 77 yards receiving last week. … TE Dalton Schultz led the team with nine receptions for a season-high 98 yards last week. He had a touchdown reception in his only career game against San Francisco in 2020 while with the Cowboys. … DE Danielle Hunter has had two sacks in both home games this season and has 12 sacks and 15 tackles for losses in 10 home games with the Texans since last season. … DE Denico Autry had a sack in his season debut last week. … LB Azeez Al-Shaair had 191 tackles, including 11 tackles for losses from 2019-22 with San Francisco. … CB Derek Stingley Jr. had an interception last week. He has 22 passes defensed and nine interceptions in 20 home games. … CB Kamari Lassiter set career highs with 10 tackles and three tackles for losses last week. … S Jalen Pitre, who leads the Texans with three interceptions, had a season-high nine tackles against Seattle. … S Calen Bullock had his first interception of the season on Monday night.

Fantasy tip

McCaffrey is always a good fantasy bet with his ability to rack up points in both the run and pass game.

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