Chiefs game report: Hunt, defense power Kansas City past 49ers in Super Bowl rematch

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — By the time the Kansas City Chiefs took the field Sunday afternoon inside Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California, the two-time reigning Super Bowl champions already were the last remaining unbeaten team in the NFL this season.

Despite more key injuries on both sides of the ball, they remained so after dispatching the San Francisco 49ers 28-18 in a rematch of last season’s Super Bowl LVIII victory.

“It comes from the leadership of the group," quarterback Patrick Mahomes said. "Everybody steps up and makes plays when their number is called.”

With Houston’s loss in Green Bay, every AFC team other than the Chiefs now has at least two losses on the season as the quest for an unprecedented Super Bowl three-peat continues to trundle over every bump in the road.

Mahomes only finished 16 of 27 for 154 yards and threw two interceptions, but he also had a career-long 33-yard run — hitting the brakes along the sideline as a 49ers defender flew by before rumbling all the way to the 4-yard line — in an efficient dismantling of the reigning NFC champs.

“We’ve got plenty of room to improve on things,” coach Andy Reid said. “Eventually, guys will start coming back. But the thing I appreciate the most is guys stepping up and then the other guys trusting them to step up and believing in them. The coaches just coach them. (General manager Brett) Veach brings them in, coaches coach them — and I appreciate that.”

Kansas City scored touchdowns on four of five trips to red zone, an area that's been a struggle for the offense this season.

“Now, it’s about cleaning up the turnovers,” Mahomes said. “If we can do that, I think we can start hitting our stride.”

The Chiefs, who were 8 of 14 on third down compared to 2 of 11 for the Niners, dominated on the ground, battering their way to 184 yards rushing and four touchdowns on 39 carries with only one that netted a loss.

“If we continue to work, I believe we’ll get better offensively throwing the ball down the field," Mahomes said. "But until then, it’s nice to know we’ve got a great running game, a great defense and we’re able to execute whenever the time comes to win football games.”

Kansas City, which is 6-0 for the first time since started 2013 with nine consecutive wins, faces two AFC West opponents during the next three weeks, a Week 8 trip to Las Vegas (Oct. 27) and a Week 10 visit by Denver (Nov. 10) sandwiched around a Monday Night Football showdown against Tampa Bay (Nov. 4), but has earned a significant margin for error already this season.

“Expectations always increase, but we’re up for the challenge of it,” safety Justin Reid, who led the Chiefs with nine tackles, said.

Hardman harasses Niners again

The last time he took the field against the 49ers, Mecole Hardman Jr. capped a three-catch, 57-yard performance with the game-winning 3-yard touchdown in overtime as the Chiefs won Super Bowl LVIII 25-22.

He picked up right where he left off against San Francisco on Sunday, averaging 27.5 yards per touch. It started with a 17-yard catch and run for a third-down conversion on Kansas City’s opening drive.

Early in the second quarter, Hardman jetted 20 yards on a sweep with Travis Kelce serving as the lead blocker. It was a key play on the Chiefs’ seven-play, 70-yard touchdown drive.

Kansas City’s offense had been bogged down with a failed fourth down, an interception and a punt on the first three drives, but Kareem Hunt delivered a 7-3 lead with a 1-yard touchdown plunge on the fourth drive.

After the defense forced a three-and-out, Hardman provided another spark on special teams with a 55-yard return.

“Getting Mecole involved, both on special teams and on the offensive side, was great,” Andy Reid said.

Mitch Wishnowsky punted the ball 47 yards from the San Francisco 38-yard line, but Kansas City took over at the Niners’ 30-yard line after Hardman’s return.

Hardman iced the game with an 18-yard touchdown run on another jet sweep in the closing minutes, finishing with 110 all-purpose yards on four touches.

Eakin Howard/AP

Justin Reid makes it right for Andy Reid

One play after Andy Reid greenlit a failed fourth-down punt fake on the Chiefs’ opening drive, safety Justin Reid — no relation — made it right with an interception.

Facing fourth-and-2 at its own 45-yard line, Kansas City sent its punting unit out, but the snap went to rookie safety Jaden Hicks, who ran into a wall and got tackled a yard short of the sticks giving San Francisco some early momentum.

49ers quarterback Brock Purdy rolled out to the right and tried to float a ball into George Kittle on the first play after the special-teams stop, but Justin Reid jumped the route, picked off the pass and gave the ball right back to the Chiefs’ offense.

“When you see pressure in a quarterback’s face and you see a window, that gives you leeway as a free safety to come out of the post,” Justin Reid said, crediting George Karlaftis' pressure for forcing the hurried throw. “If there wasn’t pressure in his face, I would have had to stay back.”

Justin Reid's team-high nine tackles — including 6 solo stops, which tied for the game-high.

“Justin Reid is just playing like an All-Pro, which he is in our mind," Andy Reid said.

Six plays later, Mahomes returned the favor when he tried to drive a throw into Jody Fortson on a slant route only to have San Francisco defensive tackle Kalia Davis paw the ball into the air and intercept it right back.

Roland-Wallace robs Purdy

The 49ers had all the momentum and seemed destined to retake the lead midway through the third quarter, but Chiefs undrafted rookie cornerback Chris Roland-Wallace had other ideas.

Roland-Wallace, who played four seasons at Arizona then finished his college career at USC last season, played only one defensive snap in his first five NFL games, though he’s been a key contributor on special teams.

But he had the coverage on Ronnie Bell’s out route as San Francisco approached the red zone and Purdy floated a pass well over his receiver’s head along the sideline.

With a nifty double toe tap, Roland-Wallace secured the catch while falling out of bounds, creating a seismic momentum shift in Santa Clara.

Kansas City, which led 14-12 at the time Roland-Wallace picked off Purdy, marched 79 yards for another touchdown — Mahomes did the honors with a 1-yard scramble up the middle, running over safety Malik Mustapha at the goal line — to restore a two-score lead.

Another rookie robbery

Roland-Wallace wasn’t the only rookie defensive back to come up big for Kansas City.

Midway through the fourth quarter, San Francisco had reached the red zone and had a chance to make the game interesting before Purdy got picked for the third time.

With a spin move inside, defensive end George Karlaftis pressured the 49ers’ QB into a rushed decision and a bad throw.

Trying to force a ball into Chris Conley a yard deep in the end zone, Purdy instead rifled the pass into rookie safety Jaden Hicks’ midsection for his first career interception.

Defense dominates first half again

Kansas City’s defense locked down San Francisco for most of the first half.

The 49ers had 56 total yards and two first downs on their first six drives.

Purdy was 3 of 9 for 38 yards with an interception to that point before a late field-goal drive pulled San Francisco within 14-6. He went 5 of 7 for 75 yards on the drive, which made it a one-score game at halftime.

Niners fullback Kyle Juszczzyk gained 14 yards on a third-and-19 carry on the game’s opening drive. The rushing attack totaled 7 yards on seven carries the rest of the first half.

Jordan Mason, who entered the week second in the NFL in rushing, managed only five carries for 3 yards in the first half.

Eventually, San Francisco got untracked a bit, finishing with 101 yards rushing on 24 carries.

The 49ers also racked up 14 second-half first downs and finished with 310 total yards, playing penalty-free after halftime.

Of course, the rushing yards (101), passing yards (209) and total yards (310) were all season-lows, while the 19 first downs tied a season-low and the three turnovers matched a season-high.

Twice as nice for Hunt

Kareem Hunt scored two rushing touchdowns for the seventh time in his career — eighth including the playoffs — against the Niners.

“I’m definitely get more comfortable each week,” Hunt said.

After San Francisco broke through with a 55-yard Anders Carlson field goal late in the first quarter, Kansas City took the lead and extended it with 1- and 6-yard touchdowns from Hunt in the second quarter.

Hunt, who rejoined the Chiefs after Isiah Pacheco suffered a broken leg in Week 2, finished with 22 carries for 78 yards and also caught two passes for 5 yards.

“He’s a beast in there,” Reid said of Hunt.

Hunt now had 63 carries for 249 yards and three touchdowns in three games since returning to Kansas City, which drafted him in the third round of the 2017 NFL Draft.

Eakin Howard/AP

Short-lived JuJu

As expected, Kansas City got a pregame boost when wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster was active after being limited in practice Thursday and Friday with a hamstring injury.

Mahomes didn’t target Smith-Schuster, who had seven catches for 130 yards in a Week 5 win against New Orleans, before he left the game in the first quarter with a hamstring injury, the Chiefs announced.

Smith-Schuster was the latest Kansas City receiver to go down — joining Hollywood Brown, who got hurt on the first play of the preseason and may be done for the year, and Rashee Rice, who suffered a knee injury Sept. 29 at the Los Angeles Chargers and will miss the rest of the season.

San Francisco had its own receiver attrition to deal with.

Jauan Jennings (hip) was inactive, Deebo Samuel came down ill before the game and played only three snaps and Brandon Aiyuk got knocked out late in the second quarter after being sandwiched between Chamarri Conner and Trent McDuffie on a 15-yard catch.

Was Taylor Swift at the game?

Bruh, you know she wraps up a three-night stint Sunday at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida, so don’t pretend like it’s a surprise she was at her day job.

Taylor Swift made it to three of the Chiefs’ first five games — wins against Baltimore, Cincinnati and New Orleans at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium — but she’s back on tour now, including a three-night stop later this week at the Caesars Superdome, which will host Super Bowl LVIX on Feb. 9, 2025.

After that Swift heads to Indianapolis, but it’s possible she’ll travel to Kansas City for its next home game, a Monday Night Football battle against Tampa Bay on Nov. 4, before heading to Canada for six shows in Toronto in late November and three in Vancouver in early December.

Kansas City is 13-3 when Kelce’s insanely famous girlfriend is at the game, including an eight-game win streak dating back to late last season.

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