Grading 49ers' offense, defense in rough loss to Chiefs originally appeared on NBC Sports Bayarea
SANTA CLARA — The 49ers made the trade last week for running back Christian McCaffrey to help the team get over the top.
On Sunday, the 49ers looked a lot closer to the bottom during a 44-23 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs at Levi’s Stadium.
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The Chiefs scored touchdowns and throttled the 49ers’ defense.
The 49ers settled for field goals and made too many mistakes to remain competitive against one of the NFL’s better teams.
Tight end George Kittle summed it up that the 49ers made crucial mistakes in all phases of the game that contributed to the lop-sided loss.
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Here is a look at the team’s report card after the blowout loss to the Chiefs in Week 7:
Rushing offense
The 49ers’ run game received a boost with the presence of Christian McCaffrey, who tore off runs of 10 and 9 yards on the third and fourth plays of the game.
McCaffrey gained 38 yards on eight running attempts. Jeff Wilson Jr. started and gained a team-high 54 yards on seven rushing attempts.
As a team, the 49ers rushed for 101 yards on 21 attempts.
Grade: B
Passing offense
Jimmy Garoppolo completed 25 of 37 passes for 303 yards while throwing two touchdown passes and one interception.
He made a costly mistake toward the end of the first half when he threw a bad interception at the goal line when the 49ers had a chance to go into halftime with a lead.
Garoppolo should have just taken a third-down sack to allow for a field goal, but instead he threw it up for grabs toward Ray-Ray McCloud. Chiefs defensive back Joshua Williams made the interception. The pass was intended for George Kittle, Garoppolo said, but he could not get enough on it as he was being hit on a blitz.
Trent Williams gave up a sack that resulted in a safety, and Garoppolo lost a fumble on a sack.
Kittle caught six passes for 98 yards and a touchdown. Brandon Aiyuk had seven receptions for 82 yards, and McCloud made a diving 8-yard touchdown catch.
Grade: F
Rushing defense
The Chiefs’ offense confounded the 49ers all the way around, including with their run game.
Receiver Mecole Hardman carried the ball two times for 28 yards and two touchdowns.
Isaiah Pacheco and Clyde Edwards-Helaire got steady, easy yards against the 49ers’ front. Kansas City gained 115 yards on 18 rushing attempts for a 6.4-yard average — after removing the three kneel downs at the end.
Defensive end Nick Bosa said there were a lot of mistakes with assignments and scheme that allowed the Chiefs to remain in favorable down and distances.
Grade: F
Passing defense
For any defense, this would have been a disaster.
But for a 49ers’ defensive unit that thinks its the best in the league, this was thoroughly atrocious.
Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes made the 49ers’ defense look pathetic, as he completed 25 of 34 passes for 423 yards with three touchdown passes and one interception.
JuJu Smith-Schuster (seven catches, 124 yards), Marquez Valdes-Scantling (3-111) and Travis Kelce (6-98) torched the 49ers’ defense.
Two of the many big plays came when the 49ers could not stop the Chiefs on third-and-20 and third-and-11 situations.
Former 49ers running back Jerick McKinnon picked up one first down when he picked up 34 yards on a screen pass. And Valdes-Scantling beat Charvarius Ward deep for a 57-yard gain in the fourth quarter on a scoring drive that all but clinched the Chiefs’ win.
Grade: F
Special teams
Kansas City seized control on the first drive of the second half when Pacheco had a 48-yard kickoff return and Jauan Jennings had what coach Kyle Shanahan described as a “stupid” unnecessary roughness penalty.
Kicker Robbie Gould made field goals of 30, 50 and 49 yards.
Both teams punted only once. Mitch Wishnowsky’s only punt of the game resulted in a muff and Sam Womack’s recovery.
Grade: C
Coaching
The 49ers keep talking about self-inflicted wounds. Again, the 49ers made way too many mistakes on both sides of the ball.
The 49ers had approximately 20 plays available for newcomer Christian McCaffrey, and that’s about the number of snaps he played.
The 49ers were outgunned 529 yards to 444. While Kansas City was scoring touchdowns, the 49ers were largely settling for field goals, when they were scoring at all.
Kansas City’s Andy Reid had his team prepared for this game, no question. The 49ers got off to a good start, taking a 10-0 lead, but looked overmatched over the final three quarters.
Grade: D
Overall
This was the highest point total the 49ers have surrendered in a home game since a 45-10 loss to the Atlanta Falcons during the 2009 season.
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That’s how bad this game was for the 49ers.
Kansas City tore off an average of 9.1 yards per offensive play while rolling up 529 yards — more than twice the 255.8-yard average the 49ers gave up in the first six games of the season.
Grade: F
