Chiefs' Offense Explodes vs 49ers' No. 1 Ranked Defense for 44-23 Victory Sunday Afternoon
The Chiefs outscored the 49ers 44-13 after falling behind 10-0 early on Sunday afternoon
The Kansas City Chiefs (5-2) may have put together their most-complete performance of the year on Sunday afternoon - beating the San Francisco 49ers (3-4) by a score of 44-23 Sunday afternoon at Levi’s Stadium in California.
Patrick Mahomes threw for 400+ yards with three touchdowns, Mecole Hardman scored three touchdowns (2 rushing, 1 receiving), while JuJu Smith-Schuster (7-124-1) and Marquez Valdes-Scantling (3-111) may have had their best days in a Chiefs’ uniform.
On the defensive side of the ball, the Chiefs finished with five sacks on the day and picked up their first safety in a couple of years as Frank Clark beat future Hall of Famer Trent Williams around the left side to bring down Jimmy Garrapolo in the end zone to cap off a great night for the Chiefs, who head into the bye week healthy and feeling good.
It certainly felt like it was going to be tough sledding after the Chiefs got behind 10-0 to start the game.
The Niners started with the ball. The Chiefs’ defense did enough to force a field goal. On the offense’s first possession, Mahomes threw an interception on a play where San Francisco rushed three and spied the quarterback — a strategy that was successful for the Bills last week.
San Francisco cashed in the short field for a touchdown to put the Chiefs down double digits. The response was nothing short of impressive by the team — but especially the quarterback.
Do not let the sour start distract you from one of the sweetest Mahomes performances we’ve seen in a while — and perhaps is best in the first half of the season. He was exceptional from that point on. Mahomes was about perfect in his decision making, accuracy, and pocket navigation. He hung in the pocket against light rushes and gave the structure of the play a chance.
The benefactors of that were primarily JuJu Smith-Schuster and Marquez Valdes-Scantling — the two highest profile receiver additions to the team in the offseason.
After that first drive, the Chiefs offense flexed their muscles and showed real growth as a unit. All parties are starting to show signs of clicking on all cylinders heading into the second half of the season. They’ll come out of the bye with a lot of confidence — and they have reason to be.
It started with Mahomes and how responded to the Niners’ game plan. He played at a remarkable level. No defense was stopping the Chiefs today. And that version of this offense in January will carry them comfortably to the Super Bowl.
The Chiefs were coming off a massive game vs the Buffalo Bills that they lost in heartbreaking fashion and were looking directly at their Bye week. It would have been super easy to come out and let that Bills’ game linger - and heck, maybe they did - and lose an ugly game heading into the bye week. The Chiefs weren’t entirely healthy or operating on all cylinders coming into a pretty hostile environment making this a somewhat tricky game to deal with.
The start to the game wasn’t looking great for them either. The 49ers came out and were being physical in the run game and moving the ball right down the field. Patrick Mahomes threw a terrible Interception on the Chiefs first drive, the Chiefs fell into an early hole, and it looked like they were about to limp into the Bye week. The Chiefs then completely bounced back from the sluggish start, fought back in the first half to take the lead and looked even better in the second half.
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Both teams traded scores early in the second half and after a 49ers TD, the Chiefs were only up 28-23. It was a key offensive possession given some of the Chiefs struggles trying to close out tight games like this one. The offense tends to get a little vanilla and put all the pressure on the defense. So facing a 3rd and 11 after the 49ers lone sack in the game, it was looking that trend would continue.
The Chiefs dial up a Mills concept - two WRs to the same side run a vertical and an in-breaking route like a Deep Dig, Post, or Over route while a backside WR runs a Dig route - and get Marquez Valdes-Scantling in one-on-one coverage with Charvarius Ward. Mahomes does a good job looking to the backside of the formation to pull the safety with the Deep Over from the slot receiver generating a ton of open space for MVS to work.
MVS, for his part, does an excellent job stemming towards the sideline and threatening the CB to the outside. When he gets on the CB’s toes and the corner is forced to square up with him to drive on an outside break, he cuts back inside and works vertically. Ward was already a little banged up but also isn’t the most fluid CB and couldn’t transition quick enough to keep up with MVS’ speed.
Mahomes lays the ball up a little bit to ensure he doesn’t overthrow MVS but make no mistake the ball was always going to MVS the moment the deep safety went the opposite direction. MVS ends up with almost 10 yards of separation and an easy catch that goes for 57 yards. The Chiefs cap off the drive with another Touchdown and never look back.
9.1 - Yards per play from the Chiefs offense
Patrick Mahomes must love playing elite defenses.
For the third time this year, the Chiefs offense put up gaudy numbers against the NFL’s best statistical defense – knocking yet another defense out of the top spot. This performance may have been their absolute best, totaling 529 net yards and putting 44 points on the board. However, it was the way the Chiefs moved the ball consistently that was the most impressive piece.
After an opening drive interception, the Chiefs scored touchdowns on six of their next seven drives – and had a touchdown called back on the seventh for a very questionable call. This offense was absolutely rolling over a defense that had only allowed 89 total points on the year (14.8 PPG) and was allowing a league-best 4.2 yards per play coming into the game. The Chiefs were surgical – hitting deep shots, stretching vertically, and converting yards after the catch with their big-bodied receivers, nearly pushing three pass-catchers over the 100 yard mark.
If this is what the Chiefs offense looks like when it’s firing on all cylinders against an elite defense, that should strike fear into the rest of the NFL.
40% - Red Zone Efficiency against the Chiefs defense
Steve Spagnuolo’s group was more flashy than consistent this week – especially in the first half when the 49ers heavy personnel was running and throwing all over the Chiefs base defense. However, the Chiefs defense was able to help claw back and help build the lead through some clutch defense when the 49ers entered the red zone.
The Chiefs held tight, forcing a field goal and two goal-line interceptions in five red-zone trips on the day. Those stops were coupled with four of five drive-ending sacks outside the red zone that forced a field goal, a punt, a safety, and a fumble – making sure the opposition stayed out of the end zone with a splash play on seven of the 10 49ers drives. With injuries and new faces all over the Chiefs defense, some “hidden” yards are to be expected, especially with the way the Chiefs defense is playing against heavy personnel.
The consistency always seems to come with Spagnuolo’s unit after the bye and late into the season. For now, the outstanding splash plays to end drives will suffice – especially when the offense is playing like they did tonight.
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