Chiefs Vs 49ers: Key Matchups

This Sunday, the Kansas City Chiefs will face the San Francisco 49ers for the first time since Super Bowl LIV. Both teams are coming off of tough losses. Kansas City enters Sunday at 4-2. Whereas with San Francisco, they are right at .500, sitting at 3-3. Both teams can make things physical if they want to. Though, the athleticism and speed dynamic may be the determining factor for whichever team emerges victorious.

Which position battles could have the greatest impact on Sunday’s outcome between the Chiefs and the 49ers? Today, we will list four key matchups that we have our eyes on entering the contest between Kansas City and San Francisco. Let’s kick it off.

Chiefs Wide Receivers Vs 49ers Secondary

There is a bit of a contrasting of styles when considering this matchup. Let’s start with the Chiefs wide receiver room. Lately, Kansas City has had great success with getting passes out quickly, allowing guys like JuJu Smith-Schuster, Mecole Hardman and Skyy Moore to do damage after the catch. Marquez Valdes-Scantling has seen more of his success on routes that take time to develop. Either way, the Chiefs are utilizing the added size and physicality to their advantage at wide receiver. This has helped Kansas City to be one of the better offenses in third down situations. Additionally, these wide receivers are generally trustworthy at the catch point when needed to make contested catches or grabs in traffic.

On the other hand, the 49ers secondary is a diverse group. With their anticipation and instincts, plays can often be wiped out before they even get going. Safeties Talanoa Hufanga and Jimmie Ward are gifted with exceptional range to trigger into throwing lanes in an instant. Meanwhile, the 49ers can frustrate opposing wide receivers when playing press man coverage. They too added size with Charvarius Ward and Deommodore Lenoir. If they opt to play zone coverage, the 49ers have the length and ball skills in the secondary that create indecisive moments from opposing quarterbacks.

49ers Offensive Line Vs Chiefs Pass Rush

The 49ers offensive line has been banged up and has underperformed so far this season. At the same time, the Chiefs pass rush has been largely corralled the last couple of weeks. That follows a tremendous start to the season for that part of the Kansas City defense. Something will have to give on Sunday between these two units, as a result.

San Francisco could possibly get Trent Williams back at left tackle this week. Arguably the best blocker at his respective position in the NFL, Williams has missed the last few games with an ankle injury. He was a limited participant in Wednesday’s practice. Others like Daniel Brunskill and Mike McGlinchey have been up and down. Each player will have to bounce back soon, if San Francisco looks to make a run in the playoffs this season.

Kansas City has to be absolutely pleased with the start of Chris Jones this season. Others like Carlos Dunlap and George Karlaftis have been impactful at the get off of the snap. Though, consistent production is not necessarily coming on the stat sheet for those two. Finally, Frank Clark will look to get back to closing in on the quarterback quicker. The last few games have been less impactful for the veteran defensive end altogether.

Chiefs Offensive Line Vs 49ers Pass Rush

Once again, you have to look at the battle in the trenches on the other side. The Kansas City Chiefs must get better results from their offensive tackle duo. Patrick Mahomes is trying to extend and create as much as he can, if necessary. Yet, those chances have been few and far between, as his time to throw in the pocket has seemingly been lowered recently.

Orlando Brown Jr. and Andrew Wylie have each struggled with speed rushers. Additionally, better hand placement will be needed on punches against more physical pass rushers. In the interior, Trey Smith has failed to win leverage battles off of the snap as early as he did in the rep last season. Lastly, Joe Thuney is battling an ankle injury. With his smarts and leadership, it would be a huge detriment if he cannot go on Sunday. Thankfully for the Chiefs, he still has a chance to practice in the next two days.

San Francisco does a good job of running twists, stunts and games upfront. They are a rare pass rush that looks to rush the passer as a group on each play. Rather than forcing their defensive linemen to win one-on-one battles, the blocking unit is forced to make the correct reads at a rapid pace. It is not like guys like Nick Bosa and Arik Armstead cannot win one-on-one. But, the plan and versatility of this pass rush group is unique. The 49ers have also benefitted from the production that has come from depth players like Kevin Givens, Drake Jackson and Samson Ebukam, to boot.

Kittle Vs Reid

After missing the first couple of games with injury, tight end George Kittle has begun to ramp up his production. There are not many tight ends who move like he does after the catch. With his thick lower half and dense upper body, Kittle can break away from any tackle. On top of that, the 49ers tight end is incredibly smooth with his spatial awareness for a larger pass catcher.

The name to watch in one-on-one battles with him on Sunday is Chiefs safety Justin Reid. Reid has occasionally been able to show off his powerful tackling and hitting ability. We saw that last week on a key pass breakup against the Buffalo Bills. Simply put, Reid is the exact type of heat seeking missile that Kansas City can depend on when facing Kittle. San Francisco utilizes him in all different areas of the field. For Reid, the Chiefs will have to place him in positions to succeed, allowing for his versatility to takeover.

Be on the lookout for more FPC Chiefs articles and analysis throughout this week. For more great sports and NFL content, stay tuned to Full Press Coverage.