49ers QB Mac Jones Gets Honest About Facing Texans

"They're really, really good," Jones said. "Top defense in the league, great front, great linebackers, and really solid secondary. So they play together. They played a lot of football together, to be honest, and really talented group, well coached, and definitely have a big challenge on Sunday."

Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans is a former 49ers defensive coordinator under Kyle Shanahan, so San Francisco knows how difficult of a challenge it will be against Houston.

Jones went into further detail about the Texans, highlighting their linebackers in particular.

"Yeah, they have elite linebackers, and they have guys who have seen our type offense a lot, so they kind of know what we're doing and what we're not doing. So just got to be, you know, seeing them on each play, and they're going to make some plays. It's a really talented group, like I said. So [we] definitely have our work cut out for us," Jones said.

Linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair, who used to play for the 49ers, leads the teams in tackles with 38 alongside second-year cornerback Kamari Lassiter. Henry To'oTo'o has 35 tackles of his own.

On top of the linebackers, the team has a pair of elite pass rushers in Danielle Hunter and Will Anderson Jr., both of whom have four sacks this season.

The Texans defense forced four turnovers in their last game on the road against the Seattle Seahawks, so they are hoping to make a similar impact against the 49ers. With the offense's struggles, the team has to find a way to make it easier for them.

The defense knows how important of a role it has in the game plan and they are capable of picking up some of the slack when the offense is struggling. If the defense can give Jones and the Niners offense some fits, they should have a chance to pull off the upset at home and get back in the win column against one of the toughest teams they will face on their schedule.

Kickoff between the 49ers and Texans is scheduled for 12 noon CT. Fans can watch the game on FOX or stream it on the NFL app.