49ers Film Review: How the defense failed in loss to Chiefs

Posted By on October 25, 2022

Sunday’s loss by the 49ers was a laugher.

Nothing went right. The defense couldn’t get off the field. The offense continued to shoot itself in the foot.

Days like that happen to the best of teams.

San Francisco won the Super Bowl in 1994. Along the way that team had a laugher of its own.

The Eagles went into Candlestick Park and hung 40 on the eventual Super Bowl champions. Charlie Garner ran wild. Randall Cunningham was nearly perfect. Steve Young was sacked in the endzone for a safety.

Sound familiar?

Ok, let’s put the history lesson behind us and look at what went wrong for the 49ers in their 44-23 loss to Kansas City on Sunday.

Third down defense

Things started off good for the 49ers defense when Tashaun Gipson got his hand on the Patrick Mahomes pass and Talanoa Hufanga made a diving grab for the interception.

It was downhill from there. The 49ers defense didn’t record another stop on third down until Patrick Mahomes left the game with under five minutes left to play.

On the Chiefs second possession they faced third and one at their 36.

Knowing that DeMeco Ryans likes to use tight man coverage in these situations, Andy Reid dialed up the perfect play call.

After lining up wide, Travis Kelce motioned into a bunch formation. The 49ers secondary bumped down but didn’t change their assignments. As a result, Tashon Gipson was easily screened off Kelce leading to an easy completion and gain of 27-yards.

They should have Gipson and C Ward back off and “banjo” the coverage. This coverage technique would have taken away the pick, with Gipson and Ward taking the man who came in their direction.

With the Chiefs leading 21-16 in the third quarter the 49ers defense had an opportunity to make a big stop.

Kansas City faced third and twenty on the 49ers 38. Instead of coming up with a stop to force a long field goal, San Francisco allowed Jerick McKinnon to take a screen pass from Patrick Mahomes 34-yards down the left side.

The big play was made possible when Nick Bosa didn’t recognize the play and blew past McKinnon towards the quarterback. Mahomes flipped the ball out to the running back who followed his blockers down the field for a big gain and Kansas City scored on the next play to go take a twelve point lead.

After the 49ers offense scored to once again make it a five point game, the defense had a second opportunity to make a key stop.

The Chiefs faced third and twelve at their own 18.

Patrick Mahomes dropped back and hit Marquez Valdez-Scantling for a 57-yard gain.

There’s not much to dissect on this one. Charvarius Ward didn’t get his hips turned in time and Valdez-Scantling ran right past him.

Three plays later Mecole Hardman got into the endzone for his third score of the game.

Jet Sweep

As mentioned above, Chiefs wideout Mecole Hardman reached the endzone three times on Sunday. All three of Hardman’s touchdowns came around the outside on jet sweeps.

Here is a look at all three of them.

Touchdown 1:

Touchdown 2:

Touchdown 3:

What jumped out while watching these touchdowns is the Chiefs blocking assignments.

The end men on the line of scrimmage don’t attempt to block the defensive linemen in front of them. Instead, they step inside to draw the defender to step down, then the blockers work up the field to the linebackers and safeties at the second level.

This is smart coaching.

There is no way a defender along the line of scrimmage will be able to get to a receiver like Hardman who is already running full speed.

Jimmy Garoppolo interception

The 49ers caught a break late in the first half when they recovered a muffed punt at the Kansas City 12.

Facing third and five from the Chiefs 5, it appeared they were in position to retake the lead.

It wasn’t to be.

Kyle Shanahan sent in 11-personnel, one running back and one tight end in an effort to spread out the Chiefs defense.

Kansas City defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo responded by sending a seven-man blitz.

Shanahan has hot routes build into every pass for situations like this.

Instead of going directly to Jeff Wilson Jr. on the hot route to his right for a walk-in touchdown, Jimmy Garoppolo backpedaled and threw a prayer to George Kittle. The throw wasn’t close and Chiefs cornerback Joshua Williams came away with an interception to end the scoring threat.

This article has 12 Comments

  1. On those three sweeps by Mecole Hardman, he was untouched on the second two and on the first grabbed weakly on the 1 yard line and just carried the tackler into the endzone. That would be tackler was Hufanga. Hufanga also made a very weak dive at the feet of Valdez-Scantling on the 57 yarder. An actual attempt at tackling might have brought Valdez-Scantling down 10 yards earlier. Hufanga is making some good plays, but he also has a tendency to just throw himself at offensive players in a macho attempt to stop them. His pathetic lack of tackling technique is also getting him hurt on a regular basis. He will continue to rack up concussions along with interceptions at the rate he is going.

    One of the defenses major problem is a real lack of quality tackling, every game you can see many players diving at the ball carrier in a vain attempt to stop them, usually resulting in the ball carrier avoiding them and continuing on for more yards. It is especially prevalent among the defensive backs. Such a shame that the basic tackling techniques are a lost art in the NFL.

    1. Man, I miss the JH defense. They tackle very well and will lay the wood. That hit by “hittner” that caused a fumble near the goal line in the divisional game against the Saints set the tone of that game.

  2. In 1994, San Francisco won the Super Bowl. That squad also had a good laugh along the way.

    In Candlestick Park, the Eagles beat the eventual Super Bowl winners by 40 points. Charlie Garner lost control. Randall Cunningham was close to becoming ideal. In the end zone, Steve Young was tackled for a safety.

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    1. Karen,
      Lucky me that was the only game I went to that year and I had to sit next to an idiot who kept calling for ELVIS!! to replace S. Young. It kind of reminds me of those around here who are calling for Purdy and no i’m not comparing JG to S. Young

    2. I remember that game and I was so angry after that defeat but I did not doubt the team even for a second that it will not be there at the end. It felt it was more of a bad fluke game.
      This is the 2nd year in a row that this team had stuggled out of the gate. Last year we made it to the playoff inspite of that bad start but we might not be so lucky this time. There is a trend here that needs to be fixed. And fix soon I hope.

  3. Excellent Breakdown – Excellent.
    >Ward’s miss on 57 yard reception – sometimes your gamble doesn’t work. By his feet, it looks like he was “playing the sticks” expecting an out pattern, and the receiver just blew past him. Bummer, but that happens. What would be fascinating to know is if the Chief’s coaching staff saw that tendency and exploited it, or if it was just a chance play.
    >Jet sweeps – great point about their blocking scheme. Crazy it worked all three times. You would think that 9ers would have adjusted the DE’s assignment when Hardman started his Jet motion.
    >JG – I wasn’t a fan of the super harsh criticism of JG in past years, altho I also recognized his severe limitations throwing outside the numbers which let’s defenses stack the center of the field. BUT, his 2-3 bonehead plays a game — well it’s time to just move on regardless of how the team does the rest of the season. Missing Wilson on the hot route when it’s obviously coming, RIDICULOUS. Poor KS must just be in pain biting his lip after every game having to deal with the JG mistakes.

    1. Thank you, Jeff!

      “Ward’s miss on 57 yard reception – sometimes your gamble doesn’t work. By his feet, it looks like he was “playing the sticks” expecting an out pattern, and the receiver just blew past him.”

      Noticed this as well. Mahomes made a comment postgame about noticing how aggressive the 49ers secondary was to drive on underneath routes.
      Certainly looked as though they knew what to expect.

      1. Thanks Jack, for another fantastic weekly film review and analysis. I really like your format, and your knack for identifying the right plays to highlight and breakdown. It’s both informative and precise, so kudos for that!

        I also appreciate you reminiscing about the 1994 Super Bowl season, and reminding everyone that …. “Days like that happen to the best of teams!”

        I remember that game almost as well as I remember the 49ers not showing for their 1988, Week-3 (9/18/88) vs Atlanta Falcons, which, unlike the Eagles’ game, was actually a more important divisional game, before the division was realigned in the early 2000’s (2003 or 2004, I believe). Anyways, the point is that the 49ers got absolutely steamrolled by a division rival by a score of 34-17, in a game that actually wasn’t as close as the final score.

        And yet …. 17 weeks later, after an illegal-block penalty gave the 49ers the football at their own 8 yard-line, with the 49ers trailing by a score of 16-10 with only 3:10 left in regulation of Super Bowl XXIII – JOE MONTANA (a.k.a. “Joe Cool”, a.k.a. “Comeback Kid”) would engineer what was, at the time, the greatest 4th QTR comeback in Super Bowl history. After leading the 49ers down to the Bengals 10 yard-line, and with 0:39 left on the game clock, Jerry Rice went in motion, and Joe Cool dropped back, he calmly planted his feet properly (cough, cough Jimmy G), and threw a perfect strike to John Taylor, hitting him in stride, and putting the 49ers up by a score of 19-16 with only 0:34 left in regulation! After Mike Cofer hit the PAT, putting the 49ers up by 4 points, the defense would finish the job, and the 49ers would go on to win their 3rd Super Bowl in franchise history, firmly cementing their place as the “Team of the 80’s”, even before they won back-to-back Super Bowl’s with their 55-10 thrashing of the Broncos in SB 24 (XXIV) the following season (1989)!

        Yes, I was in the mood for a little nostalgia, because frankly, this year’s offense is really starting to bum me out! So, sure Jack, you are 100% correct when you say that “days like that happen to the best of teams.” In fact, it’s a point I made on a previous thread recently. I felt like the 49ers defense was due for one of these games, especially considering that it’s the defense that has suffered the majority of key injuries, right? So it really came as no surprise to me that it came against the KC Chiefs.

        But at the same time, this feels feels different than 1994! Way different! I appreciate your film review, but I am willing to bet even without watching the film, that back in the day (1994), the 49ers defense could usually count on the West Coast Offense to pick them up when they had a rough game. In fact, with Steve Young, Rice & Taylor, Waters & Floyd, and TE Jones, I don’t have the stats , but I’m willing to bet the 49ers 1994 offense wasn’t stuck in 2nd gear like this 2022 version of whatever you want to call this 49ers offense! Isn’t it PAST time for Jimmy Garoppolo, and the 49ers offense to pick up the defense for a change? My gosh, there was so much energy in the air at Levi’s on Sunday, and the Niners offense got off to a hot start. Levi’s was rocking and rolling after the 49ers jumped out to a 10-0 lead! There is absolutely no excuse to finish with only 23 points, against one of the worst defenses in the NFL?

        Kyle Shanahan is now out of excuses. The McCaffrey trade has Kyle’s emotional finger-prints all over it. This offense has too much talent to be ranked outside of the top 5! And injuries are no longer an acceptable excuse! It’s 100% GO TIME for this offense, and hopefully the defense can hold their end together, and get a little more healthy. But like I said, there isn’t any game film that is going excuse Kyle this season, so he better figure it out!

  4. There’s a 2nd part to that Eagles story. After getting blown out by the Eagles to start the season 3-2 the 49ers traveled to Detroit to play the Lions. The Lions jumped out to a 14-0 lead but the team rallied around Steve Young and came back to win 27-21. I’ve heard Steve Young say that low point against the Lions with the early deficit was the moment the season turned around for the 49ers. The team reeled off 10 straight wins. Lost the last game of the season but it was a meaningless game since seeding was already set. For my rankings, the 84 team was the greatest team in NFL history. Then the 94 team is second best team in team history. The ’81 team wasn’t the most talented 49er team but that was my favorite season after having been so bad for so long.

    It’s time to go on that run and it needs to start with the Rams.

  5. One of my biggest concerns is that the defense got caught up in all the preseason talk about arguably being the best defense in the league.
    The problem with this is that sometimes a player gets a little laxed because they feel that another player will make the play. Having played a little football way back in the day, I know that such an attitude takes place.

    It’s time for team leaders to have a heart to heart with the locker room and hold every player accountable.
    I know that some will say that this the head coaches job, and it is to an extent it is. But, players respect players, and if this season is going to be saved this is a good time for the players captains to rise up.

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