Santa Clara – That recurring nightmare—the one where you wish you had done this or that—still lingers. But for the 49ers, who hosted the Kansas City Chiefs, it’s about taking it one Sunday at a time. While the rematch serves as a reminder of last year’s Super Bowl loss to the Chiefs, San Francisco continues to struggle to stop this team the way they hoped.
The 49ers fell to the Chiefs 28-18, as Brock Purdy and the offense struggled to capitalize on turnovers and find a consistent rhythm. Purdy threw three interceptions, completing 17-of-31 passes for 212 yards. Despite scoring twice on 1-yard rushing touchdowns, Purdy couldn’t get the offense going, making it arguably his worst game yet. He threw no passing touchdowns and primarily connected with George Kittle, who finished with 7 receptions for 92 yards.
“We didn’t do anything really good on offense,” said head coach Kyle Shanahan. “I know he’d love to have all three of those picks back. Brock’s been playing unbelievably this year. Done some good things on offense this year, but today wasn’t that day.”
“I think I’ve just got to play better for sure just with my throws and some decisions,” Purdy said. “I’ve obviously got to watch the film and stuff, but my instant reaction is I’ve got to play better. The second interception was on me again. Ronnie did his job. I thought he just got hemmed up. I didn’t know where he was going to come out on his route, so I just tried putting it on him and then he ended up breaking out pretty good. So, Ronnie did his job. It was on me.”
Kansas City remains the only undefeated team despite a growing list of injuries. Patrick Mahomes struggled as well, throwing two interceptions, but he still managed to lead the offense downfield, particularly in the fourth quarter when he scrambled for a 1-yard touchdown. The Chiefs leaned on their running game, with Mecole Hardman rushing for an 18-yard touchdown to extend the lead to 28-12 with three minutes left on the clock. Mahomes finished the game completing 16 of 27 passes for 154 yards.
“Yes, we obviously want to beat a team that’s had our number since I’ve been here,” said Nick Bosa. “We just did not play well enough.”
San Francisco got the break they needed when Mahomes went deep to Xavier Worthy, but Deommodore Lenoir intercepted the pass and returned it 29 yards. With Brandon Aiyuk out for the remainder of the game due to a knee injury, Brock Purdy took matters into his own hands, scrambling into the end zone for a 1-yard touchdown. However, Anders Carlson missed the extra point, leaving the score at 14-12.
Kareem Hunt was a key component of Kansas City’s offense. He opened the second quarter with a 1-yard touchdown run, giving the Chiefs a 7-3 lead. Later, Mecole Hardman returned Mitch Wishnowsky’s punt for 55 yards, setting Kansas City up with excellent field position. Hunt capitalized by recording his second touchdown of the day with a 6-yard run, extending the lead to 14-3. Hunt finished the game with 22 carries for 78 yards and two touchdowns.
Purdy’s primary target was Kittle in this first half, connecting with him for gains of 22 and 41 yards on two different series. Purdy also completed a 15-yard pass to Brandon Aiyuk, who was injured on the play and limped off the field with 37 seconds left on the clock. Anders Carlson’s 24-yard field goal was good, narrowing the score to 14-6 to end the half.
The first period was largely a defensive battle. Both Brock Purdy and Mahomes threw interceptions early on. Purdy’s short pass, intended for Kittle, was picked off by Justin Reid, who returned it for 8 yards. Mahomes responded by connecting with Noah Gray for a 26-yard gain but soon faced a barrage of sacks from Fred Warner, Bosa, Maliek Collins, and Leonard Floyd. Mahomes’ next pass was intercepted by a leaping Kalia Davis. Despite the Chiefs’ turnover, the 49ers were unable to capitalize and punted for the second time. With under two minutes remaining in the period, Carlson nailed a 55-yard field goal, giving the 49ers a 3-0 lead.
Next week, the 49ers will host the Dallas Cowboys for Sunday Night Football. This divisional matchup has become a must-win to keep San Francisco in the playoff race. The 49ers can’t dwell on past mistakes and must focus on their next opponent. After Sunday’s game, they’ll head into a bye week, aiming to finish October on a strong note.
“My initial thought is we didn’t play good enough to win,” Warner said. “You can sulk in defeat or you can see what the reality is, fix it, move on, and get ready to win a game next week. There’s so many things that are going to be said, obviously about where we’re at and that team. At the end of the day, that’s not going to help us move forward. That’s not going to help us for next week. We have to just look at the reality of what it is, flush it, and move on and win a game next week.”
“Every game is huge,” said Kittle. “I think it’s Sunday night football so all eyes on Levi Stadium which I’m excited about. It’s a great rivalry – it always has been. We need to get a win especially because it’s an NFC opponent. We have to continue to stay in the hunt. We have to try and stay ahead in our division as best we possibly can and try to get a little bit better. I’ve said multiple times, ‘you want to be a better team in October than you were of September, and better in November than you were October.’ We did not get better today. We had some good plays, but it was not our best performance.”
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