The 49ers must do this one thing to shut down Texans' CJ Stroud

Stroud will tear apart the 49ers if they let him.

Kevin Ng-Imagn Images

CJ Stroud is not a bad quarterback, but it is clear that the Houston Texans' gunslinger is starting to have issues dealing with the pressure that he faces every week due to the offensive line issues his team endures.

Whether or not the San Francisco 49ers can take advantage of that will essentially decide whether the team will win the game. 

Will the San Francisco 49ers get pressure on CJ Stroud? 

Stroud is a completely different quarterback when he has a clean pocket compared to when he faces pressure. When he has a clean pocket, he is 12th-best in passer rating, according to Pro Football Focus. He is right above Baker Mayfield and right below Patrick Mahomes.

The top ten includes Lamar Jackson, Jared Goff, Jordan Love, Josh Allen, Drake Maye, Sam Darnold, Dak Prescott, Jalen Hurts, and Matthew Stafford. Essentially, the list of the best quarterbacks so far this season, and Stroud is right there. 

However, under pressure, he is the seventh-worst quarterback in passer rating. He is ahead of just Geno Smith, Cam Ward, Jake Browning, Joe Flacco, Love, and Allen. 

Love and Allen do have starker differences when kept clean and under pressure this year, and so do Smith and Goff. That is because Smith is so bad under pressure, and Goff so good when clean. Still, the difference is going from one of the best passers to one of the worst. The 49ers can decide when they get the best and when they get the worst. 

Kyle Terada-Imagn Images

The 49ers' secondary cannot handle one of the better passers in the game right now. So, it is going to be on the 49ers' pass rush to change this game in their outcome. The pass rush did it last week, but now they are going to be missing Bryce Huff. 

The Texans' offensive line is bad, but can Mykel Williams, Sam Okuayinonu, Trevis Gipson, and Robert Beal create enough havoc to make Stroud give the ball up in significant moments? Can they get an interior rusher to surprise us with a big game?

Or will we see Stroud bounce back at home because the offensive line is in a better environment, both in terms of the crowd and the opponent? Even if San Francisco has a good game plan, they are not quite the Seattle unit right now.

Does Saleh blitz more, knowing the offensive line has had issues communicating these things? That is what is going to determine who wins in Week 8 in Houston.