Tag: 49ers vs. Chiefs

49ers injury update: Deebo Samuel exits game to locker room vs. Chiefs

Before the end of the second quarter, Deebo Samuel exited the game to the locker room after playing only three snaps against the Chiefs.

After playing only three snaps, Deebo Samuel exited the game to the locker room before the end of the second quarter against the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday in Santa Clara.

Samuel is reportedly dealing with an illness. In the first half against the Chiefs, Samuel played three snaps before exiting to the locker room.

Via @YahooFantasy on Twitter:

With Samuel’s status unclear and Brandon Aiyuk also dealing with an injury, the 49ers will need to lean on a rookie duo of Jacob Cowing and Ricky Pearsall in the second half against the Chiefs.

Update

Samuel has officially been ruled out.

This post originally appeared on Niners Wire! Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!

Rookie Ricky Pearsall records first NFL catch vs. Chiefs

In his highly-anticipated NFL debut, rookie Ricky Pearsall recorded his first career catch against the Chiefs.

In Week 7 of the 2024 NFL campaign, the San Francisco 49ers hosted the Kansas City Chiefs in a highly-anticipated rematch of last season’s Super Bowl. Along with the Super Bowl rematch, Sunday also marked the NFL debut of 49ers first-round pick Ricky Pearsall.

Prior to the start of the season, Pearsall suffered a gunshot wound to the chest in an attempted robbery. After missing the first six weeks of his rookie year, Pearsall suited for the first time as a member of the 49ers.

In the second quarter against the defending champions, Pearsall secured his first career NFL catch. Brock Purdy tossed Pearsall a pass for six yards in the second quarter against the Chiefs.

Via @49ers on Twitter:

With Jauan Jennings ruled out and Deebo Samuel dealing with an illness, the 49ers will need to continue to lean on their rookie receiver against the Chiefs on Sunday.

This post originally appeared on Niners Wire! Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!

49ers’ big man Kalia Davis picks off Patrick Mahomes for first career INT

After tipping the pass, defensive tackle Kalia Davis came down with a momentum-swinging interception against Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs.

In the highly-anticipated Super Bowl rematch between the San Francisco 49ers and Kansas City Chiefs, the first two dominoes to fall for each side were turnover between the quarterbacks.

Following an interception by Justin Reid on an ugly throw from Brock Purdy, the 49ers’ defense answered the bell with the Chiefs threatening.

With the Chiefs just outside the red zone, defensive tackle Kalia Davis got his hands in the passing lane and tipped a ball from Patrick Mahomes. With the ball fluttering through the air, Davis came down with it to secure the first interception of his career.

Via @NBCS49ers on Twitter:

This post originally appeared on Niners Wire! Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!

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49ers 1st-round pick could make NFL debut vs. Chiefs

The 49ers first round pick could make his highly-anticipated NFL debut on Sunday against Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs.

The San Francisco 49ers have been without their first-round pick from the 2024 draft, Ricky Pearsall,  through the first six weeks of the NFL season.

Yet, with Week 7 approaching the wide receiver out of Florida could be on his way to making his debut in time for a Super Bowl rematch with Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs.

Pearsall suffered a gun-shot wound to the chest in an attempted robbery in downtown San Francisco before the start of the regular season. Just two months later, Pearsall was activated by the 49ers and returned to the practice field.

With his highly-anticipated debut looming, 49ers general manager John Lynch seems optimistic about Pearsall’s potential availability on Sunday against the Chiefs.

In an appearance on San Francisco’s KNBR, Lynch said there’s a chance Pearsall plays on Sunday in Santa Clara.

Via @mattbarrows on Twitter:

https://twitter.com/mattbarrows/status/1847293993429971103

Pearsall was drafted in the first round of the 2024 NFL draft out of Florida. In his final season with the Gators, Pearsall recorded 65 receptions for 965 and six touchdowns.

Pearsall will likely slide in behind Deebo Samuel, Brandon Aiyuk and Jauan Jennings on the 49ers’ depth chart. Pearsall will compete with Jacob Cowing, Ronnie Bell and Chris Conley for reps behind the 49ers starting pass catchers.

Update

Pearsall will be activated and is questionable for Sunday’s game against the Chiefs according to head coach Kyle Shanahan.

This post originally appeared on Niners Wire! Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!

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Chiefs coach ‘can’t find weakness’ in 49ers QB Brock Purdy

The Chiefs have a terrific defense, but their defensive coordinator doesn’t know how to stop the 49ers’ QB.

Kansas City Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo hasn’t changed his opinion of San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy.

Spagnuolo had a ton of praise for Purdy after Super Bowl LVIII, going as far as to seek out the QB’s phone number to reach out individually. Purdy’s performance in 2024 has only solidified Spagnuolo’s thoughts on the 49ers’ signal caller.

The Chiefs’ defensive coordinator spoke with reporters Thursday and said he can’t find a weakness in Purdy’s game.

“I can’t find a weakness in this quarterback,” Spagnuolo said via ESPN’s Nick Wagoner. “Every time I put the film on, I’m more and more impressed.”

Perhaps Spagnuolo is simply trying not to enflame an already big Super Bowl rematch. However, given his praise for Purdy immediately after the game and Purdy’s strong start to the 2024 campaign, it’s tough to imagine he’s being entirely untruthful.

On the other hand, if there was something Spagnuolo thought he could exploit with the 49ers’ QB, he wouldn’t divulge that in a press conference.

So far this season there’s not a glaring weakness in the way Purdy has succeeded. Teams have tried heavily blitzing him. Teams have tried not blitzing him. They’ve taken away the middle of the field. They’ve forced him to scramble. There’s nothing in particular that jumps out as the secret to beating the 49ers’ QB.

If there is a secret to doing so and Spagnuolo has it, the 49ers would love to have it come out in Week 7 instead of later in the regular season or in the playoffs.

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49ers-Chiefs Super Bowl rematch will be nationally televised

49ers fans across the US will have the Chiefs-49ers Week 7 matchup on their TVs.

The San Francisco 49ers and Kansas City Chiefs don’t have a primetime slot when they face off Sunday in a Super Bowl rematch.

However, they will be playing on national television.

According to 506 Sports, the 49ers and Chiefs will be shown on FOX nationwide with Kevin Burkhardt and Tom Brady on the call.

It’s a bit of an odd scheduling quirk by the league since the 49ers and Chiefs are one of just three games in the afternoon window. It’s also by far the most intriguing game in that time slot.

Other afternoon kickoffs include the 2-4 Las Vegas Raiders at the 1-4 Los Angeles Rams, and the 1-5 Carolina Panthers visiting the 4-2 Washington Commanders.

Both of those games will be on CBS, primarily in the local markets for each team.

All of FOX’s games will air in the early window.

Overall Week 7 is an odd one from a scheduling standpoint.

There are only two teams on bye – the Bears and Cowboys – a 6:30am Pacific Time kickoff between the Patriots and Jaguars in London, and two Monday Night Football games.

All of that shook out where the 49ers and Chiefs will get the rare national TV treatment out of a 1:25pm Pacific Time kickoff.

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Kyle Shanahan approaching dubious 49ers record vs. Chiefs head coach Andy Reid

Kyle Shanahan needs to solve the Andy Reid Chiefs.

San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan has downplayed the team’s Week 7 Super Bowl rematch against the Kansas City Chiefs.

While he’s willing to admit that watching film of their heartbreaking Super Bowl LVIII isn’t easy, Shanahan told reporters in a press conference before Wednesday’s practice that he isn’t putting any additional weight on Sunday’s game because of that loss.

“Yeah, I think everyone understands that we’ve lost the two Super Bowls to them,” Shanahan said. “So I mean, that can give a little post-traumatic stress when you turn on the tape, but I think that’s human nature. But you’ve got to make sure you don’t get caught up in that.

“This game has nothing to do with past games, that was last year. We’re playing a really good AFC opponent. We’re .500 right now. We want to stay on top of our division and get a win. I don’t really, you think about that stuff going into it, but in terms of what it plays out in a game, it really has no correlation, and you try to make sure that it doesn’t.”

It’s easy to point to Super Bowl revenge as a potential motivating factor for San Francisco. However, there’s a larger issue unfolding.

Shanahan can’t beat Chiefs head coach Andy Reid.

The 49ers since Shanahan took over in 2017 are 0-4 against Reid’s Chiefs. That includes a Week 3 loss in the 2018 regular season, a Week 7 loss in the 2022 regular season and a pair of Super Bowls.

According to the AP’s Josh Dubow, it’s the second-most games a 49ers head coach has lost to another head coach without securing a win. Jack Christensen, who coached the 49ers for 67 games between 1963 and 1967, went 0-9 against Baltimore Colts head coach Don Shula.

It’s easy to write off the 2018 loss as the Chiefs just being better. They went to the AFC title game that year while the 49ers stumbled to a 4-12 finish.

The two Super Bowls and the 2022 regular season matchup make it seem as though the Chiefs head coach and his staff found the key to solve the Shanahan 49ers. While the teams regularly play close games, it’s Reid’s club that comes up on the right side of seemingly every big play.

Perhaps the 2024 regular season is where that trend flips. Given that the Chiefs figure to be in the way again if the 49ers are in Super Bowl contention any time over the next decade or so, solving Reid and his Kansas City club is crucial.

Sunday’s game may be ‘just another game,’ but it could have a ripple effect that leads to either a Super Bowl win or another Super Bowl defeat at some point down the road.

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Has negative rest differential hurt 49ers this season?

How much has rest differential hurt the 49ers so far in 2024?

The San Francisco 49ers for the last two seasons have been up against the dreaded ‘rest differential‘ thanks to their schedule.

A key talking point when the NFL releases its full schedule is the number of days a team has off between games compared to its opponent. If Teams A and B face off after having played the previous Sunday, the rest differential is zero for both teams. If Team A played Monday night, and Team B played Sunday, Team B would have a plus-one rest differential when facing Team A the following Sunday.

The 49ers have been on the wrong side of the rest differential by historical proportions in each of their last two schedules. In 2023 they had the sixth-worst rest differential of all-time. This year they have the third-worst.

In 2023 it didn’t matter in the grand scheme of the season as the 49ers finished 12-5 and snagged the No. 1 seed in the NFC.

So far in 2024 it hasn’t mattered much either.

San Francisco through six weeks has yet to play a game with a positive rest differential, and there’s no clear evidence that being at a rest disadvantage has actually hurt the 49ers.

They had neutral rest differentials in Week 1, Week 3, Week 5 and Week 6.

In Week 1 they beat the Jets. They lost in Weeks 3 and 5 to the Rams and Cardinals, respectively. Then they beat the Seahawks on Thursday Night Football in Week 6.

In Week 2, thanks to a Week 1 Monday Night Football game, the 49ers were a minus-1 rest differential in a loss to the Minnesota Vikings.

On the other hand, the Patriots had a plus-three rest differential in Week 4 when they visited Levi’s Stadium, and San Francisco handled them with relative ease.

Now it’s up to the 49ers to continue shrugging off rest disadvantages because they’re going to have two big ones entering their next two games.

The Chiefs, who were on a bye in Week 6, will have a plus-three rest differential at Levi’s Stadium in Week 7.

Then the 49ers host the Cowboys in Week 8 after Dallas has its bye in Week 7. That means they’ll have a plus-seven differential when they visit San Francisco.

While the rest advantage is a preseason talking point, the 49ers don’t have the margin for error to use it as an excuse. They overcame a season full of tough schedule spots last year, and they did it once already this year. That trend needs to continue heading into their Week 9 bye if they want to put themselves in position to potentially push for the No. 1 seed again.

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49ers 1st-round pick to practice, unlikely to play Week 7 vs. Chiefs

Ricky Pearsall is practicing, but don’t expect to see him in Week 7.

San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan had some extremely positive injury news in his conference call the day after the team’s Week 6 win over the Seattle Seahawks.

Shanahan confirmed a report that rookie wide receiver Ricky Pearsall would have his 21-day practice window opened ahead of the team’s Week 7 matchup with the Kansas City Chiefs.

However, it doesn’t sound like Pearsall will suit up against the Chiefs.

“I would think it’d be a longer ramp-up period,” Shanahan said. “But health-wise and everything, he is totally good to go. But I really won’t decide that stuff until we start watching him practice. We’re not going to rush it or anything. If he’s ready, he’s ready. And if he’s not, we’ve got a few weeks.”

Pearsall suffered a gunshot wound to his chest during an attempted robbery in San Francisco the weekend before the regular season began.

He went on the Non-Football Injury list after that and has been there since. Pearsall was eligible to return after Week 4.

It makes sense there’ll be a longer ramp up for the No. 31 overall pick. He had hamstring and shoulder injuries in training camp and didn’t get a ton of practice time. The club may need all 21 days in his practice window just to get him up to speed in his role after missing so much camp and the first six weeks of the regular season.

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Report: Super Bowl rematch between Chiefs and 49ers set for Week 7

The regular season rematch of the Super Bowl between the Chiefs and 49ers has reportedly been set.

While the NFL Schedule for the 2024-25 season is set to be officially released on Wednesday, dates and weeks for certain games are beginning to leak, including one of the most highly-anticipated contests on the San Francisco 49ers’ schedule for the upcoming campaign.

According to Jordan Schultz of Bleacher Report, the regular season rematch of Super Bowl LVIII between the 49ers and Kansas City Chiefs is set for Week 7. Future Hall of Fame quarterback Tom Brady is slated to be on the call for the Super Bowl rematch, per Schultz.

Via @brgridion on Twitter:

The Chiefs are coming off a 25-22 overtime win over the 49ers in Las Vegas for Super Bowl LVIII in Feb.

Along with Week 7’s opponent being reported, the 49ers know who they will be playing in Week 1. On the opening week of the new season, the 49ers will welcome Aaron Rodgers and the New York Jets to Santa Clara for Monday Night Football on Sep. 9.

This post originally appeared on Niners Wire! Follow us on Facebook and Twitter! 

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