The Kansas City Chiefs head to San Francisco to take on the 49ers in a Super Bowl rematch from two years ago. After coming off a loss to Buffalo, how will KC respond and what to expect in this upcoming clash between the Chiefs and 49ers?
The Kansas City Chiefs are getting ready to face off against the San Francisco 49ers in the Bay this Sunday. After a tough loss to Buffalo, Kansas City is looking to get back on track with a win and go into the Bye Week 5-2. The 49ers recently just acquired star Running Back Christian McCaffrey in a trade and his status for Sunday will be active but limited since he traveled to the team on Friday. What should we expect in this Super Bowl 54 rematch?
Offense
Patrick Mahomes had a rough game against the Bills, he threw two interceptions and one of them was a game-sealing interception in the last minute. Although he wasn’t great, he was able to still throw for 338 yards and two touchdowns. Now the Chiefs play another top-tier defense against the Niners, the front seven of San Francisco might even be better than the Bills. Nick Bosa is one of the premiere pass rushers in the league and he’s looking to wreck things up front against Orlando Brown Jr and Andrew Wylie. Also, linebacker Fred Warner, who is one of the best in the league will be flying around the ball, looking to make things uncomfortable for Mahomes and the offense.
The key to success this Sunday will be getting the running game back in motion for the offense and drawing up design screenplays to slow down the pass rush of the 49ers. This will be a game to expect Edwards-Helaire and Pachecho to average around four to five yards a carry as they will need to be effective to open up the passing game for the offense. JuJu got his first touchdown as a Chief last week and he will need to play with the same intensity he did last week when he had 113 yards on five receptions and five targets.
Mahomes needs to find ways to get JuJu more targets, especially in the red zone with the big body frame he has, which makes it difficult for opposing defenders to bring him down. Going up against a defense like San Francisco lives off of turnovers and will not hesitate to attack Mahomes in the pocket. Although we know Mahomes is one of the best going up against the blitz, the 49ers’ defense does well with just getting pressure with four. The offense will be battle-tested on Sunday, but this will be the game to regain confidence in the offense.
Defense
Even though Josh Allen and the Buffalo offense were able to drive downfield on the last drive to score and close it out, the defense truly showed improvements from last year’s AFC Championship game and made it tough for them. The defense had a bend don’t break style defense last Sunday because Allen and Buffalo’s offense is just that explosive, however, they were able to force turnovers on downs and field goals. We should not see anything different in this upcoming matchup against the 49ers.
With McDuffie coming back from IR and Willie Gay coming back from suspension, the defense gets back key pieces that made this defense energized and fun to watch. The Chiefs statistically have one of the worse secondaries in the league, however, with Fenton battling injuries and McDuffie being on IR after the first game due to a shoulder injury, Spags should be more confident with man-on-man coverage on the outside. Deebo Samuel is a premiere playmaker for San Francisco and is looking to have a monstrous game against the Chiefs. He gave KC some problems in the Super Bowl, where he was impactful not only in the air but on the ground as well. There were many times he gave a spark to that offense and they will be sure to try to do it again.
With Christian McCaffrey possibly playing in this game as well, the Chiefs need to prepare for some goal-line packages that will include the Niners’ new premier star running back. Jones and the defensive line will have a chance to dominate this game as they did in the Super Bowl a few years back. With Garapollo not being as mobile as a guy like Allen, they can take advantage of collapsing the pocket from the inside and forcing miscommunication throughout that entire offense.
How the run defense looked last week was horrendous, Devin Singletary was able to rush for 80-plus yards and if we allow them to do that on Sunday, San Francisco will not be scared to continue with that formula. The defense should get back on track this week, with the returning guys and that will give players like Bolton and Jones a chance to give a little more than usual and hopefully capitalize.
The Chiefs have a chance to go into the bye with a win and three games over .500. With the division looking weak, KC has a chance to put themselves ahead of the rest. After losing to Buffalo, which was probably a preview of this year’s AFC Championship game, this puts more pressure on them to play clean football for the rest of the year and make sure to find ways to win each week. The prediction for this week’s matchup is the Chiefs coming out on top 31-14 Chiefs and the defense forcing two turnovers and the offense having a little over 350 yards total.
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