Getty The 49ers chase down Clyde Edwards-Helaire on October 23, 2022.
The Kansas City Chiefs did more than just snatch the spotlight from Christian McCaffrey and his debut with the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday, October 23.
The Chiefs reminded the NFL world, including the 71,746 who attended the first rematch of Super Bowl 54 at Levi’s Stadium, how explosive their offense is…and put their stamp down on the league’s best defense.
The visitors racked up 529 total yards and matched their previous season-best point total in the 44-20 romp of the 49ers. The game began as a celebration on the 49ers’ side as the 2012 NFC title winning team was honored before the game, and on the debut of “Run CMC.” However, two defensive members of that ’12 team that captured the 49ers’ sixth conference title were vocal about the performance of the defense.
Prominent Members of the 2012 Team Don’t Believe They Would’ve Allowed That Type of Outing
Patrick Willis and Donte Whitner were a vital part of the 2012 49ers defense.
They became vocal about what they watched when asked about the performance of the 2022 unit in the NBC Sports Bay Area postgame show.
“It just look liked they had a lot of explosive plays,” Willis began in describing what he saw. “I feel like if you want to be a great defense, you can’t allow that many big plays. Today, they allowed a lot of them.”
Along came the former safety Whitner, who concurred.
“I agree with you. Too many big plays,” Whitner said. “Remember, no edge to the defense. Mecole Hardman and the three touchdowns rushing on the ground.”
But then came the burning question from the defender known as “Hitner” directed toward one of the captains of that team that was honored beforehand.
“Do you think that we could’ve played in a game like that…that was that bad defensively during our years?” Whitner asked Willis.
Willis responded: “You know, to be honest with you…no. No, I don’t think so because just knowing the guys that we had, we were always about the awareness of setting the edge and bringing everything back to the defense.”
.@PatrickWillis52 dissects what went wrong for the 49ers’ defense today
That 2012 team only had one game that saw the opposition pour 40 points or more: The December 23, 2012 road game loss to the Seattle Seahawks. But that unit still finished second overall and delivered 10 regular season games of surrendering 21 points or less.
Notable Stats Chiefs Hit Versus 49ers
How was it that the Chiefs, who one week ago struggled offensively against the Buffalo Bills in that highly-anticipated playoff rematch, looked near flawless against a defensive unit that offenses have had difficulty with? Here are some notable marks the Chiefs hit against the Niners:
Plays of double digit yardage: Kansas City didn’t have its first play of double digit yardage until it faced a third and one scenario on the Chiefs’ second offensive series — and that ended up becoming a 27-yard connection between Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce. After that, KC went on to total 16 plays of 10 yards or more against the 49ers…including four that surpassed 30 yards.
.@TeamJuJu for 45 and a TD! @Chiefs have put up 44 points 🔥
📺: #KCvsSF on FOX
📱: Stream on NFL+ t.co/USkaudAkBK
Run defense woes stretch another week: In the Week 6 loss to the Atlanta Falcons, the 49ers allowed an average of 4.2 yards per carry and the Falcons racked up 168 yards. This time, the Chiefs elevated the average yards per carry to 5.3 and scored three times, ending Sunday with 112 rushing yards. Jet sweeps especially gave the 49ers fits.
How many jet sweeps can we score on today?
THE LIMIT DOES NOT EXIST.
Mahomes accomplished 2022 first: Mahomes hadn’t thrown for more than 400 yards in a 2022 game until Sunday. He finished with 423 aerial yards. It’s also the first time this season the 49ers allowed a 400-yard passer.
Meanwhile on the 49ers’ side, a fierce pass rush was bottled to just one Nick Bosa sack and only delivered three QB hits of Mahomes. The Chiefs? Eight QB hits and five sacks of Jimmy Garoppolo.
Overall, the 49ers defense has witnessed a production drop off the last two games — enough for Willis and Whitner to believe that would’ve never happened on their watch.