Four Takeaways From the Chiefs' 44-23 Win Over the 49ers
The Kansas City Chiefs spotted the San Francisco 49ers 10 points on Sunday but in the end, it didn't even matter.
Despite a slow start that featured a bad Patrick Mahomes interception, Kansas City's offense caught fire and ended up getting going in plenty of time to pull away from San Francisco. Combined with a few timely defensive plays and a 49ers offense that lacked the ability to complete a comeback, the Chiefs escaped with a 44-23 victory.
Here are four takeaways from Week 7's game.
1. A weaponized Mecole Hardman is dangerous
Wide receiver Mecole Hardman is one of many Chiefs players who's dealt with some injuries this season. In Hardman's case, though, he's been playing through his heel ailment. While his effectiveness has been inconsistent due to it, Hardman's explosive ability was back in nearly full force against the 49ers. Additionally, Andy Reid and Eric Bieniemy schemed him into the game plan and it led to the 24-year-old scoring three touchdowns on the day and logging the first two rushing touchdowns of his career. The Chiefs flashed at the end of last season what Hardman can do when he's used the right way, and his Sunday performance reminded the football world of that.
2. Patrick Mahomes bounced back in a big way
All season long, even dating back to organized team activities and training camp in the summer, Mahomes has preached about how the Chiefs want to get everyone involved on offense. He's said that different players will have "their game" over the course of the year. Against San Francisco, that rang true with the likes of Hardman, Travis Kelce, JuJu Smith-Schuster, Marquez Valdes-Scantling and others making big plays. Not only did Mahomes spread the love around on offense but, outside of that ugly interception on the team's first drive, he had perhaps his greatest performance of the season thus far.
Considering that things haven't always been perfect for Kansas City as the offense learns to adjust to new looks from defenses and new pieces on offense, Week 7 was a terrific outing for all involved. That includes the offensive line, which deserves an honorable mention here. Mahomes's protection has been spotty this year but against one of the best front sevens in the sport, it was about as good as its been since the beginning of the 2022 campaign. That's a massive plus heading into the bye week.
3. The Chiefs' defense stepped up when needed
Kansas City's defense struggled at times during its battle against the 49ers, giving up chunk plays in the run game early on and seeing Jimmy Garoppolo attack them in the middle of the field on multiple occasions. Once the offense got going, though, it allowed the defense to play a bit looser. With five sacks on Garoppolo (including a safety from Frank Clark and a strip-sack from Chris Jones), the Chiefs struck a balance between being aggressive and also containing San Francisco's multiple elite offensive weapons. It wasn't always pretty, but forcing multiple turnovers and turning the intensity up multiple notches after the first quarter led to a respectable overall performance for Steve Spagnuolo's defense in the end.
4. The bye week comes at a near-perfect time
The Chiefs' Week 8 bye arrives at an ideal time for the team. Not only are defensive linemen such as Mike Danna dealing with nagging injuries, but Kansas City's offensive line and wide receiver group have both been playing banged up for multiple weeks throughout the year. A win before a week off reiterates that things appear to be trending in the right direction, and some time to rest helps ensure that rookie cornerback Trent McDuffie will be back in the fold for the club's Week 9 showdown against the Tennessee Titans and others will be feeling better overall. No team is fully healthy at this point in the season — the Chiefs included — but the timing of this year's bye appears to be more than adequate. Kansas City can head into its week off with heads held high.
