SANTA CLARA – Here is how the 49ers (3-4) graded in Sunday’s 28-18 home loss to the Kansas City Chiefs (6-0):
PASS OFFENSE: D
Brock Purdy got intercepted three times, No. 1 wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk sustained a season-ending knee injury, and left tackle Trent Williams got ejected for throwing a punch in the closing minutes. Now, it wasn’t a total disaster. In the comeback attempt, Purdy did complete 41-yard passes to George Kittle (six receptions, 92 yards) and Jacob Cowing (two catches, 51 yards). Ricky Pearsall, 50 days since getting shot by an attempted robber in San Francisco, made his inspirational debut and delivered three catches for 21 yards. But this unit was a shell of itself without Aiyuk (two catches, six targets, 23 yards), Deebo Samuel (a Sunday morning illness sidelined him by the second quarter), and Jauan Jennings (did not play; hip injury). That Purdy posted his worst passer rating as a starter (36.7) should not be a surprise, as he scattered 14 incompletions among 31 passes against a really tough defense.
RUN OFFENSE: D
Kudos to Purdy for twice scoring on 1-yard keepers, as well as converting on a fourth-and-1 plunge with a helpful assist from Kyle Juszczyk. But Jordan Mason and the rushing game got off to such a slow start that the 49ers could not control this game. Mason admirably battled through last game’s sprained shoulder, finishing with just 58 yards, only three of which came before halftime on five carries. Christian McCaffrey observed warmups in sweats, and the 49ers can only hope they’re still in contention if he’s eventually done with his Achilles treatment for a post-bye return.
PASS DEFENSE: B+
Patrick Mahomes posted the worst passer rating of his prestigious career (44.4), Travis Kelce tallied just 17 yards on four catches, and they still prevailed. Oooph. When Deommodore Lenoir got the 49ers’ second interception off Mahomes and returned it 33 yards to the 23-yard line, that set up Purdy’s first touchdown and pulled the 49ers within 14-12. From there, the Chiefs only summoned Mahomes to pass when needed, and he converted 3-of-4 third-down throws. Defensive tackle Kalia Davis’ first-quarter interception came when he tipped a pass into the air, where it hung “slowly” and he thought: “Ain’t no way it lands in my hands, and it did.” Charvarius Ward made an exceptional, third-down pass breakup downfield against Kelce that fired up the 49ers’ sideline.
RUN DEFENSE: F
The 49ers yielded 184 yards and four touchdown runs on 39 carries to the Chiefs, ranging from Kareem Hunt’s hard-charging touchdown runs before halftime to Mahomes’ 33-yard escape down the sideline past linebackers Fred Warner and Dee Winters. Then came the fourth-quarter scoring runs by Mahomes (1-yard jaunt up the gut before flooring Malik Mustapha in the end zone) and by Mecole Hardman (who scored the Chiefs’ final — and winning — touchdown in the Super Bowl). “We were hoping for more (sack opportunities) in the second half but you have to stop the run to do that and we weren’t doing that,” Nick Bosa said.
SPECIAL TEAMS: D
Anders Carlson debuted by converting his two field-goal attempts before halftime, but missing a point-after kick after Purdy’s third-quarter touchdown was unacceptable and rekindled memories of his seven missed PATs as a Packers rookie. The Chiefs led only 7-3 before the 49ers went 3-and-out and allowed a 55-yard punt return to Hardman, which the Chiefs parlayed into Hunt’s second score and a 14-3 lead. Mitch Wishnowsky’s spinning, onside kick didn’t even make it five yards, making for a fitting and humiliating end to this one.
COACHING: D
Kyle Shanahan fell to 0-5 against Andy Reid for a variety of reasons. Losing Deebo Samuel and Brandon Aiyuk obviously impacted an offense that, regardless, never looked in rhythm and instead again got outmatched by the Chiefs’ defensive personnel and scheme. The 49ers recovered from a 3-4 start to make the 2021 and ’22 playoffs, so Shanahan and his staff must do some heavy lifting the next couple months to repeat that feat.
