The San Francisco 49ers (3-4) were blasted by the Kansas City Chiefs (5-2) 44-23 on Sunday at Levi’s Stadium.
On a day the 49ers celebrated the 2012 team which won the NFC Championship and with several franchise greats in attendance, San Francisco put up an embarrassing performance.
For the second week in a row, the 49ers defense could not make a stop in crucial situations. Truth be told, they couldn’t make a stop for nearly the entire game on Sunday.
The offense wasn’t much better.
After a good drive to open the game and a quick touchdown after the only stop of the day by the defense led to a touchdown, the 49ers offense bogged down. They were able to manage just 13 points over the final three and a half quarters.
Let’s take a look at the five burning questions I asked Saturday. The answers detail what went wrong, leading to San Francisco’s second two game losing streak of the season.:
1.) Will Christian McCaffrey get on the field? YES
It didn’t take long for Kyle Shanahan to start using his new toy.
McCaffrey made his 49ers debut on the fourth offensive play of the day, exploding through the line for a gain of ten. On the next play he burst through for a gain of nine.
After the quick start, things cooled off. McCaffrey gained 39 yards on six first half carries. He would finish the day with 38 yards rushing on eight carries and 24 yards on two receptions.
2.) Can the 49ers defense contain Patrick Mahomes? NO
Things started out well for the 49ers top ranked defense. On Kansas City’s third offensive play of the game, safety Tashaun Gipson was able to get his hands on a Mahomes pass intended for Skyy Moore and Talanoa Hufanga came away with a diving interception.
From that point on the San Francisco defense had no answers for Mahomes and the Chiefs offense.
Kansas City was not forced to punt until Mahomes was replaced by Chad Henne with under four minutes left to go in the game. The only stop by the 49ers defense during that time came when Harrison Butker missed a 39-yard field goal just before halftime. The Chiefs had driven the ball from their own eight to the 49ers 21.
Kansas City ran 58 plays on Sunday. They gained ten or more yards on twenty of them.
Early in the fourth quarter the 49ers offense scored a touchdown to pull within five, 28-23.
Instead of a stop to get the offense back on the field, San Francisco gave up a 6-play, 80-yard touchdown drive. The big play, a 57-yard bomb from Mahomes to Marquez Valdez-Scantling who beat the coverage of Charvarius Ward.
Jimmie Ward returned to the starting lineup after missing the Falcons game after suffering a broken hand a week earlier against Carolina. Mahomes went after him, hitting several throws including a touchdown to Justin Watson to make it 28-16.
3.) Will the 49ers keep Travis Kelce out of the endzone? YES
The 49ers defense may have kept Travis Kelce out of the endzone, but they couldn’t keep the tight end from jumpstarting the Chiefs offense.
After turning the ball over on the opening possession of the game, Kansas City faced third and one at their own 36.
Kelce lined up wide to the right but motioned inside. The 49ers were in man coverage and didn’t adjust properly. As a result, Kelce was left all alone in the right flat. Patrick Mahomes hit the tight end in stride and Kelce rumbled down the sideline for a gain of 23.
The Chiefs scored their first touchdown a few plays later, and the 49ers defense could not stop them the rest of the game.
4.) Can Jimmy Garoppolo take advantage of the Chiefs pass defense? NO
Jimmy Garoppolo fell to 5-9 in games where the 49ers throw more than they run since the start of 2021.
The big mistake for Garoppolo in this game came late in the first half.
Down 14-13, the 49ers caught a break when Skyy Moore muffed a punt and Samuel Womack came up with the recovery at the Kansas City 12.
Facing third and three from the five, Garoppolo was pressured and underthrew George Kittle in the endzone resulting in an interception by Joshua Williams.
Garoppolo needs to play better for the 49ers to win games against good opponents. But so does the rest of the offense.
San Francisco’s offense was called for seven penalties. Four of those wiped away plays which gained a total of 53 yards.
5.) Which team holds on to the ball? Kansas City
Neither team was able to hold on to the ball, however the Chiefs did a better job than the 49ers.
Kansas City finished with two turnovers to three for the 49ers.
San Francisco scored the only points off takeaways by getting into the endzone following Patrick Mahomes’ interception early in the game.
Prediction:
49ers 20 Chiefs 24
Very disappointing loss. Our defense was no match for Mahomes. Maybe on a different day when fully healthy it would be different but today was an embarrassment. On the offensive side, It wasn’t great either. This offense is not capable of the kind of offense that KC provides. It requires the defense to keep the score within reason. There was too many mistakes in all 3 phases. Hopefully the team bounces back and continues to improve.
You said just a few days ago on a post here, quote/unquote, ““Shanahan is only hammered by some know nothing fans but not by anyone who matters or is a knowledgeable football person. It’s too soon to rank Shanahan (among great 49er coaches) in my opinion but he’s already near the top and could continue to rise.”
Do you care to recant, Felix? You’re allowed.
I’m too busy laundering KS’s clothes at the moment to really form any type of opinion. Maybe when I get done with his socks.
Do you have anything intelligent to say?
Under, Of course not. It’s the truth.
I applaud Jack’s honesty. This is just a terrible team. And why is deebo and Trent tipping off plays? Cohn picked it up. Lousy defense, lousy offense. We had not played a premium team until KC so we know who we really are now. The terrible flop in Chicago to open the season sent the omen we needed to have read. LA is now a must-win game. And where is Verrett and why has Moonie gone daffy? Please do not resign Ward. He is always hurt and in decline. . He is always injured and is easily beaten by good Q B’s. lots of cuts to personnel coming after the season.
Shanahan saw the offensive master at work… Andy Reid.
The way he sliced up the 49ers defense was truly amazing. I hope that Shanahan takes ample time to study how Reid’s “”wrecking ball” offense destroyed our vaunted defense.
On a positive note, the 49ers may have took it on the chin, but I’m not counting them out of the playoffs. Far from it!
I pray that the 49ers do not make it to the Super Bowl as they will be facing their 3 loss if they do.
Ryans got totally schooled in this game. A really good DC can make adjustments. Case in point – CMC was running all over the Chiefs in the first half. But in the second half the Chiefs kept him in check. Spagnolo making the adjustments. If Ryans made adjustments he made the completely wrong ones as the Chiefs scored 28 points on his D in just the 2nd half.
I still like Ryans better than Saleh. If he can learn from this and the D improves as a result, then it was a lesson well learnt. But if he has the attitude of KS where nothing is ever his fault, then look for repeat poor performances.
We’ll see what happens.
Good post cubus. I do like the job Ryans has done since he took over, but he certainly wasn’t good today. His defense looked flat footed today, and he looked like he was completely out of answers in the 2nd half. The Chiefs do have one of the most explosive offenses in the NFL though, and the 49ers defense was bound to have one of these games, so call me crazy, but it sure would be nice to have an offense that could pick up the defense for a change, after all, how many times has the 49ers defense picked up Kyle’s offense?
As bad as the defense was today, Kyle Shanahan’s game plan was equally as atrocious, especially in the 2nd half, and the fact of the matter is that it’s a QUARTERBACK driven, passing league, and Andy Reid was smart enough to figure this out at least a decade ago! ,
I understand that the 49ers are down to their backup QB, but this passing offense has to find a way to improve, and unfortunately I don’t think McCaffrey is the answer, which is extra depressing for me tonight.
“it’s a QUARTERBACK driven, passing league”
True dat! To win, you have to be able to pass when you want to – and you have to be able to pass block if you want to pass. Right now we have a HC who is an offensive genius but relies on defense to win and we’re constantly stuck with the reality that we have to run the ball in order to win. Like Old Coach says the guys up front are just not doing the job and we pretend that it doesn’t matter. Does anyone here actually believe we would be better off had Lance not got injured. If we exchanged QBs with the Chiefs in yesterday’s game we would still lose . The fish rots from the head.
I wonder why some fans focus on coaching and ignore that it is players who play the game, get beat, miss a tackle, get a penalty. Etc. it would have taken a miracle Ryan adjustment to change the result of this game. By the way, can you explain what adjustments he should have made.
It’s his job to know what adjustments to make – that’s why he gets the big bucks as does KS. But Ryans is a young coach and doesn’t have the experience of a Spagnolo. I think he can learn from this embarassment and that’s all I ask.
Of course the players always share some of the blame. But this is Kyle Shanahan’s 6 season as the 49ers HC, and de facto GM. Therefore, he’s responsible for every player on the roster. It’s the responsibility of the HC/GM to both find talented players, and then coach them up on the football field to both execute, and limit their mistakes/negative plays. There isn’t a player left on this roster who wasn’t either brought in by Kyle, or wasn’t given Kyle’s full stamp of approval, so ultimately he deserves to be held responsible for the way his players perform, and how well they execute their jobs.
What struck me most today was not so much what happened on the field, which was distressing enough, but a chart displayed by FOX that showed that since 2017, 49ers players have missed more games due to injury than any other team in football. How can this possibly be? And why?
That’s not the only stat: what about the one where when the 49ers enter the 4th Q down by 3+ points, they are 1 and 29. That is an unbelievable stat to me.
It’s 1 and 30 now, Cubus
Thanks for the correction, Dee.
It’s especially unbelievable considering that, with what we’ve seen in terms of parity in today’s NFL, what happens in the 4th QTR is so often the difference between winning and losing, and is what separates the best from the rest!
And as a side note: How many times have Kyle Shanahan’s team given up big 4th QTR leads in the biggest games of his career?
Whatever word is the opposite of the word “clutch”, is a good word to describe Kyle Shanahan! And the first word that comes to my mind in this context, is the word “choker”!
Kyle has a knack of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. The good news is now that I have seen his record (1 out of 30 wins) I turn off the TV after 3 quarters and now suffer less.
Professional sports, where results are the only stat that matters.
This season is make or break for this HC.
Other wise another new HC next year.
And 0 – 25 when trailing by 7 pts or more entering the 4th quarter!
The question is why…..
Rob….
‘Takes leather balls (pigskins) to play football….
For me the two O-Lines were game deciding. While KCC protected Mahomes well, they even enabled the big plays by a tremendeous run block. For the 49ers the O-Line fell apart.
Everyone said before the season that the O-Line is the biggest liability of the team. I think this got confirmed.
Bad game all around and a great demonstration of why building a team that relies on barely winning close games isn’t going to work against the Buffalo, Kansas City types.
I’ve just never found this approach conducive to beating everyone down the stretch. Teams that impose their will are the ones who are left standing at the end, and Kyle Shanahan’s teams have seemingly never had that type of gravitas.
Of course if he could change that by giving his offense some confidence from time to time. The regular season is a journey to the big dance and the head coach is always pessimistic and scared out there.
None of the above is why they lost yesterday. They just got the good old fashioned beat down. Still, I can’t help to think what the plan is should they reach the playoffs. Trying to win every game on your last possession doesn’t seem conducive to stringing together 3-4 wins in a row come playoff time, especially when you’re just another critical injury away from seriously hampering your offense or defense. The great teams win consistently in dominant fashion, not by the narrowest margins every week.
It was a clinic put on by the Chiefs yesterday. Even when up 10-0 you knew Kyle wouldn’t be able to match an Andy Reid offense. Maybe Shanny could learn a thing or two, but it’s hard to do when you’re called an offensive genius at a young age.
The bad: sh*t sandwich.
The good: game was played at Levis, sparing us that disgustingly racist tomahawk chop chant.
Up next: moving on. let’s get the annual Rams sweep.
I agree 100% w/ Gavin. As for the 49ers owning those dismal stats when trailing into the 4Q, gee, let me think…
That couldn’t be because the 9ers have an “Offensive Genius” at the helm, right? Naw, it was plenty obvious that the REAL genius was on the other sideline. KS just got a big dose of humility shoved down his throat.
Lets hope that he & Ryans both learn some much needed lessons after being Thoroughly Dominated on both sides of line by a superior team. It was startling to see our D Line shoved around plus blown coverage calls in the secondary. 20 of the 59 Chiefs plays went for 10 yds or more…!!
Best 2 teams in the NFL are Chiefs & Bills – & here come the Bengals too. What a game for Burrows!
I just don’t know about firing or trading KS, as is being suggested here and elsewhere, especially after considering what it was like before KS with Tomsula and Kelly. That said, if this team continues to fall so woefully short of expectations and experience the kind of sorry injury record mentioned above, then clearly there is a coaching issue and a change may be necessary. Just don’t know who that new coach might be — Sean Payton,Ken Dorsey, Harbaugh, the Chiefs’ OC??? — or whether the Yorks are even prepared to consider taking such action.
Anticipatory Anxiety will get you nowhere…
Don’t worry. It’s not going to happen. It’s only an issue with some fans who don’t know much about football so they immediately trash the coach or the quarterback.
Felix,
I don’t see the FO making a head coaching change either.
But what might cause some issues is what takes place in the locker room.
The players more than anyone else know that they have too many weapons for the offense to be inept. A couple of more losses like this one could start some grumbling in the locker room and Shanahan will be the focal point of the complaints.
Also, if we start to lose games in our own division things could get real dicey in the locker room and the FO.
this is what happens when you consistently ignore your offensive line. K C completely rebuilt their line after their super bowl loss. we continue to ignore ours and use retreads or failed draft choices. Mahomes couldn’t succeed behind this line.
Prior to the CMC trade I felt this team could make the playoffs where in a terrible NFC who knows what could happen and then whoever made it to the SB from the NFC would get destroyed. Then in the off season thru the draft and free agency they could rebuild their O line and be ready to challenge for the SB after the 2023 season. Now after giving up 3 early picks and taking on CMC’s salary along with a new Bosa deal, I am worried that the team is beginning a slide into mediocrity . They can still make the playoffs this year but the future does not look bright. Getting rid of KS will only leave a new coach with one of the worst O lines in the league and not enough high picks to rebuild with and no cap room to sign FA’s.
You do realize that Lynch is the final say on drafting and signing free agents. not KS, right?
Do you realize that you couldn’t be more wrong, as you are with everything? KYLE SHANAHAN HIRED JOHN LYNCH! Kyle is the #1 guy in all football operations, this is why everything falls at his feet. All draft picks and free agents go through KYLE NOT LYNCH. Amazing that you always say everyone else knows nothing when that so clearly defines yourself.
Wrong again. Contractually Lynch is in charge of the 90 man roster, so he does the drafting and free agents. Shanahan’s contract gives him control of the 53 man roster. In actuality, they are a team and work very well together. Shanahan recommended Lynch who York interviewed and hired. As usual you know nothing but love to shout your ignorance.
There is no way in hell York was not going to hire who Shanny wanted. It’s the only way he was able to get him to come to San Francisco. As far as you constantly telling everyone it’s the players- no! The coach absolutely matters.
The Tampa Bay Bucs under Dungy/Gruden are an example of how one guy, despite his shortcomings, can collectively breathe confidence and personality into a team and will them to a championship with the same personnel the previous very good coach couldn’t do.
Shanny isn’t quite cut out for the head coach role. Offensive coordinator, maybe. You’re right it’s not going to happen, but Sean Payton could win with this team, mainly because he would immediately inject his boldness into the offense while Shanny coaches scared.
Back to your ridiculous “contractual” statements- you may be the only individual I know who goes by each word/line in a contract. The real world interprets things in different ways. Hell, that’s why we have judges that review and decide supposedly contractual terms and what was intended. The claim that Lynch is the end all be all decision maker in terms of personnel is highly suspect. Kyle has a ton of say in who he wants, and absolutely on the offense side of the ball.
Contracts matter to everyone but you. They are legally binding. Obviously you also have no clue about the legal system if you think judges can change the facts of the contract. I never said Lynch was the end all, I simply stated what the contracts say. You don’t have to like it, but it’s fact. That doesn’t mean they don’t collaborate on these issues. I’m positive they do, at least on the important ones. I believe Lynch has stated that they always come to an agreement.
You are entitled to your opinion but your opinion is very suspect considering in the last 3 years KS has taken the team to the highest level twice. Not too many coaches can match that record.
You’re in serious denial. Learn how the real world works. Judges are needed often to interpret contracts. Belichick doesn’t have defined roles with his coaches and he’s tried multiple play callers. Do you think they’re “contracted” to be offensive coordinators?
Of course in your ignorant view you think the world is black and white. You need to examine how you interpret things around you.
Also, learn the difference between a judge changing vs. interpreting contracts. You’re so lost I don’t even know what to say at this point.
Great post OldCoach! Before I get into me issues with this trade, I do just want to make an unrelated point. Jimmy Garoppolo is not the reason the 49ers lost yesterday. Jimmy certainly didn’t do enough individually, but yesterday’s meltdown was a collective effort.
OK, now that I got that off my chest, I want to add one more thing to that …. the 49ers RB’s were also not the reason the 49ers lost yesterday! The problem is a combination of a few things, and if I was to rank the 49ers offensive issues so far in 2022, RB would be WAY down the list!!! This is why I just don’t understand the need to go and trade away a handful of upcoming draft picks for Christian McCaffrey. IMO, the running backs are not at the core of the 49ers offensive struggles, and BTW running back is not a plug-and-play position either, especially in Kyle’s offense. It’s going to take CMC some time to just get comfortable with Kyle’s playbook before he can make any kind of real difference.
This trade has Kyle Shanahan’s fingerprints all over it, just like the 49ers reckless trade-up in the 2022 draft had Kyle’s finger prints all over it! If there is one thing I have learned about Kyle Shanahan over the years is that he can’t adapt offensively. The best coaches, like Andy Reid, are masters of identifying the root of their problems and making the necessary adjustments. Kyle isn’t that guy! Kyle has ONE formula for winning football games, and it’s all tied to reaching a certain number of rushing attempts in any given game. Everything Kyle does in the macro, revolves around rushing the football a certain number of times per game, and in order to reach that number, their rushing attack needs to be running the football with a level of efficiency. And so when that’s not working, KYLE HAS NO PLAN B!
Jeff Wilson isn’t a scrub! Jeff Wilson Jr. is averaging 5.2 YPC this season. He looks to me like the Jeff Wilson of 2020, who averaged over 5.0 YPC after he took over for Raheem Mostert after Mostert was placed on IR. It took Wilson Jr. a good 15 moths to get his legs back after his fluke meniscus cartilage tear, but he’s clearly got his burst and speed back, because if you toss out the week 1 monsoon, he’s averaging 5.4 YPG. Not only that, Elijah Mitchell is coming off of IR very soon. Elijah Mitchell was kind of amazing last season before the injuries. In fact, he was one of the best looking young RB’s in the league as a rookie. I understand that he can’t stay healthy, but didn’t the 49ers also spend two 3rd round picks in order to shore up the RB position during the last 2 drafts? And didn’t it seem like they found themselves another undrafted gem when Jordan Mason spent training camp reminding everyone of a young Marion Barber? I mean, I don’t know if you guys remember the Cowboys’ Marion Barber back in 2006 and 2007, but Jordan Mason is a spitting image of a young Barber, both running style and pass catching ability, but also body type. It’s striking how similar they look to me, but it ends up that Mason is even bigger than Barber by at least 10 lbs, and seems to have a little better top end speed. Barber ran a little bit on the upright side, but not concerningly so, just like Jordan Mason, but he was a guy who ran like a bat-out-of-h_ll every time he touched the ball, and he was an incredible run-game asset because he was dominant in short yardage situations, but he was always a threat to break a big one, and he was efficient catching the football out of the backfield, so he was good enough to create a passing threat, which made him a terrific chess piece in the Cowboys offense. I am not saying any of these guys are as good as McCaffrey is as a duel threat, but when you add Deebo Samuel to the equation, and Deebo’s and Ray-Ray’s ability to run jet sweeps, Kyle already had more than enough talent and versatility at the RB position, before they went and traded away a handful of draft picks for McCaffrey.
The 49ers have now used 7 picks now on their RB position, since the 2021 NFL draft, including three 3rd round picks. That’s 7 picks on the 1 position that has been devalued more than any other position over the last 15 years! But how many picks have they used on their 5-man OL during that same period? It’s a QB driven league, and the QB needs to be protected by his OL, and the 49ers are busing spend most of their draft picks on their running back position, even though they can’t pass the football!
As a team building strategy, that’s absolutely unbelievable!
I know I am old school and the game has changed radically since I played and coached but one thing that hasn’t changed is games are won up front. Yes it is a QB driven league but a QB won’t excel without a Avg to above Avg. OL. WRs and TEs won’t excel without Avg. to above Avg. OL. RBs won’t excel without…… I don’t criticize KS for his play calling because HCs don’t excel……. I do criticize KS/JL for not drafting/signing/developing an Avg. to above Avg. OL. Many here are canonizing A. Reid for his genius level play calling, well take a look at the TB/KC SB he wasn’t much of a genius that day because his OL was terrible. I know I sound like a broken record but it pains me to watch this OL then read all of the critics here blame coaches and QBs. I believe they need to replace JL and take away all player personnel responsibility from KS as well as force him into hiring an OC. If he balks at any of these provisions then they should trade him. imho
Coach, so you believe that the GM who put together one of the best rosters in the league and the coach who has lead his team to the highest level in 2 of the last 3 years should be fired and demoted respectively. Really? All because you don’t like the O line. Let me guess, did you play on and coach the O line?
To those who are criticizing D. Ryans, i’m going to ask the same question I asked twice yesterday. I received answers, but not answers to my question. Is there any other team in the NFL who could lose 5 starters on their D as well as their best CB played injured and their best FS played with a cast on that strongly effected his ability to run ( watch the TD he gave up his gait was all out of balance) who would have played any better? If they get Armstead, Kinlaw, Al-Shaair, Greenlaw back. If J. Ward gets his cast off and C. Ward gets back to 100% then they play poorly Ryans will deserve the criticism. imho
I’m a little aggravated myself about all of the criticism directed towards Ryans.
DeMeco Ryans’ defense finished last year’s regular season ranked 3rd in yards per game, and that was despite Kyle and John providing him a clown show at CB once Verrett got injured. And his defense had it’s share of injuries last season. This year Ryans’ defense has been carrying the 49ers offense, despite suffering the majority of the team’s key injuries.
Yah, his squad got whooped yesterday, but they have a lot of key injuries, and especially along the DL, so of course they are going to struggled to put pressure on Mahomes. And you can’t beat Mahomes with the blitz when your best CB is injured, and your second best CB is out for the season.
If people want to criticize Ryans, even though going into yesterdays game his defense was, like I said, carrying Kyle’s offense, and among the top of the league in almost every catagory. Yah, Ryans’ defense hasn’t exactly faced murderer’s row of NFL offenses this season, but every defense has a bad game, especially a severly depleted defense facing one the the league’s best offenses, best HC, and one of the most prolific QB’s in the history of the league.
What’s Kyle’s excuse?
The KC Chiefs defense isn’t any good. They stink! The Chiefs are giving up 370 YPG. That ranks 25th in the NFL. The Chiefs defense is equally as bad, giving up 24.6 PPG, which also ranks 25th in the NFL.
DeMeco Ryans’ defense is giving up 294 YPG (ranks 3rd in the NFL), despite a plethora of injuries, and is only giving up 19 PPG (even after yesterday), which ranks 9th.
The LV Raiders (2W-4L) scored 29 points against this Chiefs defense, at Arrowhead Stadium, one of the loudest, and toughest stadiums in the league.
Kyle’s 49ers catch the Chiefs defense one a SHORT WEEK (they played the Raiders on Monday) and could only put up 23 points, which is basically 2 points less than the Chiefs give up on average, and that’s despite all of the extra energy provided by unveiling his new shiny toy, at home, with all of the extra energy in the air due to the 49ers pregame reunion ceremony!
So Kyle’s offense scored less points VS the Chiefs yesterday, than the Chiefs give up on a per game average, but how has Kyle’s offense been on the year?
The 49ers offense gains 355 YPG which ranks 13th, (despite playing a bunch of lousy defensive teams). Their passing offense ranks 14th despite having the best trio of YAC skill players in the league, and the Niners running game ranks 15th. All of this despite spending a tremendous amount of draft capital at both the QB and RB positions since 2021! They have spent 4 draft picks on the QB position (three 1sts for Trey and a 7th for Brock), and a whopping 7 draft picks on the RB position (a 2nd,3rd,4th,5th for CMC, two 3rds for Sermon and TDP, and a 6th for Mitchell).
The fact is, if there is a weak link within the 49ers coaching ranks, and there is, it’s obvious by looking at the statistics of this current coaching staff, that Kyle Shanahan deserves the vast majority of any blame aimed at this current 49ers coaching staff! That’s a fact!