How Steve Wilks’ 49ers defense can put a lid on Patrick Mahomes

If the 49ers are going to put a lid on Patrick Mahomes in Super Bowl LVIII, defensive coordinator Steve Wilks will have to open his entire playbook.

The Kansas City Chiefs are back in the Super Bowl — for the fourth time in the last five seasons — and Patrick Mahomes is getting hot at exactly the right time. Mahomes’ 2023 regular season, affected as it was by some iffy receivers and a questionable playbook at times, was underwhelming. But in his two playoff games, Mahomes has completed 47 of 62 passes (75.8% completion rate) for 456 yards (7.4 yards per attempt), three touchdowns, no interceptions, and a passer rating of 112.0.

If the San Francisco 49ers are to avenge their 31-20 loss to the Chiefs in  Super Bowl LIV four years ago, they’ll have to do as much as possible to contain Mahomes both as a passer and as a second-reaction runner. Defensive coordinator Steve Wilks is well aware.

“Well, it is definitely a challenge,” Wilks said Friday of the Mahomes Factor.  “Not only him, you look at [Travis] Kelce, you talk about two first-ballot Hall of Famers there. We definitely have to prepare and be ready. It’s different things that we have to do. Number one, he’s doing a tremendous job, really extended plays. We talked all week. It’s two plays within one down. When the ball snaps and then once he starts to scramble. So he’s phenomenal. The best I’ve ever seen for just buying time, winning with his feet, and getting the ball where it needs to go down the field.

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“They do ad-lib and they do a great job of it. But we still have to have a great plan. We’ve still got to execute and finish. When they start to ad-lib we’ve got to do a great job of really plastering the man within our zone and really straining to make sure we finish the rep.”

Putting a lid on Patrick Mahomes when he’s on is one of the toughest things to do in sports, but the 49ers under Wilks do have some concepts that they execute very well, which could get them started down the right path. Some are obvious, and some seem quite counterintuitive, but here’s what the 49ers have done this season, and what Mahomes would prefer they not do, that could make a serious difference in Super Bowl LVIII.