The 49ers have been at or near the top of the NFL hierarchy for most the 2023 season, and ever since they lost to the Eagles in last year’s NFC championship game their path has felt destined to end with a trip to Allegiant Stadium for Super Bowl LVIII.
While there may be a swagger or confidence to San Francisco and plenty of reasons to believe they’ll win, there are also some causes for concern as they try to walk down the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs.
Here are three of those causes for concern:
Patrick Mahomes
This sort of goes without saying. There’s an air of inevitability around Mahomes that causes almost everything else to not matter. We saw the 49ers defense in Super Bowl LIV play about as well as a team can vs. Mahomes, and he still got over the hump to hang up 31 points. This year’s Chiefs offense isn’t as talented as the group the 49ers faced four years ago, but that doesn’t matter since Mahomes is under center. He’s thrown four touchdowns and no interceptions in the playoffs, and Pro Football Focus has yet to mark him down for a turnover-worthy play in the postseason. It was a down year for the reigning MVP and he still managed to lock in to be his best self for the playoffs. The 49ers have a better roster than Kansas City, but Mahomes is capable of erasing whatever the gap is between the two clubs.
Chiefs run game
Let’s forget Super Bowl LIV for a moment since this version of the Chiefs offense is pretty dramatically different from that one. We can harken back to Week 7 of last season though when Kansas City rolled the 49ers 44-23 at Levi’s Stadium. In that game the Chiefs only ran it for 112 yards, but they did that on 21 attempts and tallied a trio of rushing touchdowns.
Running back Isiah Pacheco had 43 yards on eight carries, while RB Clyde Edwards-Helaire chipped in 32 yards and a touchdown on six attempts. On top of that, head coach Andy Reid pounded the edges of the 49ers’ defense with runs to wide receiver Mecole Hardman, who ran it three times for 28 yards and two touchdowns. San Francisco never had a chance on those plays, and that’s the big concern heading into the Super Bowl.
Perhaps the 49ers have a plan for Pacheco and Edwards-Helaire, but they may not have a plan for some of the speed Kansas City can throw at the edges. If they’re generating big plays in the run game and getting the 49ers defense on its heels, it’ll be a long day for the 49ers defense.
Blitzes for days
Outside of defensive tackle Chris Jones, the Chiefs don’t have a particularly dominant rusher on the defensive line. They do have some good players there, but the cause for concern for the 49ers on Sunday will be the myriad of blitzes defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo will throw at them.
Kansas City has had TEN (10) non-defensive linemen record at least two pressures this year per PFF and 16 different defensive players record at least one sack. They are a prolific, creative group when it comes to getting after the quarterback. 49ers QB Brock Purdy has been very good against the blitz this season, but heavy pressure from unexpected spots could lead to a game-swinging turnover.
