The San Francisco 49ers fell to the Kansas City Chiefs (and their refs) 28-18 in their Superbowl rematch.  This season has been a case of whatever can go wrong, will go wrong for the 49ers.  Let’s look at what went wrong this week and anything that may have gone well. 

There are a lot of recurring themes this season.  We shall begin traditionally with the injuries.  First off, Jauan Jennings was out with a hip injury.  The Niners hope to have him back next week.  The Niners were going to have to go with their 3rd kicker in 3 games as Matt Wright went on the IL and they had to bring in Anders Carlson to replace him.  Deebo Samuel came to the stadium ill and would only be able to play a handful of snaps.  Turns out he has pneumonia and they do not know when he will return.  So that’s two receivers down.  During the game, just before halftime, Brandon Aiyuk blew out his knee and is out for the season.  Of course, CMC is still out as well.  That left 2 rookies and a second-year guy who kinda sucks and only had 6 receptions last season, as the teams wideouts.  Oh, and Chris Conley.  How could I have forgotten him and his, let’s see, 1 catch on the season.  The Niners don’t have an injury bug, they have an injury infestation.  I guess they were due, but this sucks. 

The second biggest recurring theme this season has been that the Special Teams absolutely blow.  Sorry, just no other way to say it at this point.  They gave up another huge return in a game where offense was scarce and they missed an extra point.  All that was before the foul tip on the attempt at an onside kick at the end of the game.  Just another pathetic showing.  They did stop a fake punt attempt but I am pretty sure they left the defense on the field, not the special teams unit.   There hasn’t been a lot of margins for error this season and everything the special teams screw up goes a long way to costing the 49ers the game. 

I wish I could say the Special Teams was the only u it that played bad in this one but unlike the other games so far this season, the defense and offense were not much better than the Special Teams. 

The Defense was the better of the two but they were far from great.  They handed the Chiefs their second TD with a series of penalties that kept the drive going.  Their run defense again left a lot to be desired, especially in the red zone.  They gave up 4.7 yards per carry and 4 rushing TDs.  

It wasn’t all bad.  The secondary played very well. Lenoir had an interception and they didn’t give up any big plays.  They held Mahomes to only 154 yards and no passing TDs.  Up front they got a lot of pressure on Mahomes.  They compiled 2 sacks and 8 QB hits.  Kalia Davis even batted a pass into the air and picked it off.  If not for the penalties and the run defense being a little leaky, it would have been a good game for them. 

The offense was a different story.  The run game couldn’t get anything going in the first half against the Chiefs excellent run defense.  Most of their runs went for no gain or a loss.  In the third Mason was able to get going but the 4th quarter deficit forced the Niners to get away from the ground game.  Mason ended up with 58 yards which I believe is the highest total for a runner against KC this season.  Shows you how good they are.  Juice was able to break off a nice run and Purdy had two 1-yard rushing TDs. 

The passing game struggled to get going and that was when Aiyuk was in the game.  After he left it really struggled.  Purdy had a terrible game last season against Baltimore but it was a blip in the season.  We have to hope that this game is the same blip this season.  Working mostly with receivers he has not had a lot of time with, Purdy struggled with a lot of his throws and some of his decisions.  It wasn’t all bad and his repour with Kittle was still there but he threw 3 picks and only had 219 yards.  If you didn’t know Purdy and Mahomes were two of the top QBs in the league, you certainly wouldn’t believe it after this game. 

Kittle had a nice game with 6 catches for 92 yards on 7 targets.  I would think teams will really focus on him going forward, if not, he could have a big season.  Cowing caught a nice 41-yard bomb but that was about it in the air attack.  Pearsall had 3 catches for 21 yards in his debut.  With Aiyuk done for the season, Pearsall and Cowing are going to get opportunities.  Hopefully they can take advantage and secure their spot on the team. 

Some quick notes

–one of Purdy’s TDs was scored on a tush push.

–I had at least 4 missed holding calls and a missed block in the back on a third down play. It’s hard to win when KC have 7 extra players on the field. 

–Trent Williams was ejected from the game for punching a KC player in the helmet after he was punched in the helmet by the KC player.  Seems fair.  The ref in the booth said “New York” can get involved. If they did, they too are in the Chiefs side.

–On Monday the 49ers had a punter in for a try out.  Wishnowsky has not been good this season, possibly due to the injury he had in camp.  Maybe a new punter will help out the horrendous special teams

Well, this disaster of a season continues Sunday Night against the Cowboys.  Dallas will be coming off their bye week as KC did this week.  Because why would the 49ers catch a break.  I believe there are two more games where the Niners opponents will be coming off their bye.  Hopefully the Niners will be able to steal a win this week and go into their bye at .500.  That bye can’t come soon enough.