Copyright yardbarker
Had Lenoir been able to get down or get out of bounds with time on the clock, the 49ers could have kicked a field goal to make the game 16-10 at the half. But Lenoir told reporters Sunday he was trying to get more than that because he thought it would give the 49ers the best chance to win. "It was really just I was trying to score," Lenoir said. "I should have slid. I wasn't aware how much time was left on the clock, but I just (saw) the end zone and I was trying to score (and) put us in a good position to be able to win the game." 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan applauded the interception but said it will serve as a valuable teaching moment for Lenoir. "It'll be good stuff for us to review with him," Shanahan said. "I think it's tough. It's 11 seconds before the play, so we need awareness of that when it happens. When you catch it by the sidelines, I think he has time to look to score. But I think once we can't, we've got to get down immediately. So, I think it is a little greedy, just getting on him for that. "I thought it was a hell of a play by D-Mo. It was nice to break that stretch that we've had of not getting a pick. But it'll be a good learning situation to cover with all our guys tomorrow." Unhappy reunion Mac Jones and Houston Texans defensive end Will Anderson know each other from their days at the University of Alabama, where they were part of a national championship squad in 2020. On Sunday, they met up once again, albeit not in a way Jones would have preferred. Anderson was a thorn in the side of Jones and the 49ers' offense all day, as he tallied 10 quarterback pressures, one sack and three quarterback hits. "I've known Will for six, seven years or whatever it is now, and I have a lot of respect for him," Jones said Sunday. "And every time I play against him, you've got to have a plan for him, but they definitely had our number today." Anderson's performance was part of a defensive effort that held the 49ers to 223 total yards, with just 48 of those yards coming on the ground. "They do what they do," Jones said. "They've done the same thing the past five years. They're really good though. They've all played together for a long time and I've got a lot of respect for those guys. I've gone against them three times in the last year and every time I've left the field, I thought they were the best defense in the NFL. So, we've had a couple of those these past couple weeks and really it's about us, to be honest. When we do what we do, I think it can be pretty good. When we don't, that's what you get." What comes next The 49ers now face an important road game against the Giants, a team that fell to 2-6 with a 38-20 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday. The Giants on paper are one of the worst teams remaining on the schedule for the 49ers, but with injuries continuing to pile up and a deflating loss to the Texans to bounce back from, coming out of the East Coast with a win might be easier said than done. Shanahan says the players need to walk into team facilities on Monday with a chip on their shoulder in order to recover from their latest defeat. "I was real disappointed in how we looked for all four quarters," Shanahan said. "The first half was unacceptable and the second half didn't get much better. So, not much to say about it, except that we'll look at it on the plane and figure out all the things that we know we can correct and that we did mess up. But I expect the guys to come in tomorrow with a chip on their shoulder ready to get back to work." Tight end George Kittle says he follows the "24-hour rule," which in this case means players should take 24 hours to get over a loss before shifting all their focus to next week. "I'm a big 24-hour rule guy," Kittle said. "Whoever started that was a genius. You can be sad and depressed about it for 24 hours and let it go, because you can't do anything to change it. All you can do is learn from it. And so that's all we're going to do, I hope. "There's opportunity all over the football field. There is. There is so many places to learn from it. It's a humbling sport. Look yourself in the mirror, what did I do wrong, what can I get better at? But like if it's something that you're just going to like let anchor you down, then that's going to be tough football for us moving forward. So hopefully we have guys that can let it go after our meeting tomorrow, and we can move into Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday with a fresh start. And yeah, hopefully there's a chip on our shoulder. Hopefully we go run around and practice hard, and I think we will. We have the right guys in the building, we have aggressive guys in the building, guys that want to win." Maybe the 49ers will be able to add some help before the November 4 trade deadline and bring in a healthy player or two that might raise morale. But either way, the players seem ready to head into next week and beyond with the players they currently have. "Would you have asked me that last week when we held the Atlanta Falcons to 10 points? I don't think so," Kittle said Sunday when asked about the trade deadline. "So, I mean, I think we have the right guys." Brown felt the same, saying, "I believe in the guys we've got, no matter if Fred (injured linebacker Fred Warner) or Nick's (injured defensive end Nick Bosa) out there. I believe in every guy who was out there on that field today, and I believe we can get it done with those guys."
