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49ers' immediate reaction: The Chiefs are Brock Purdy's kryptonite


49ers' immediate reaction: The Chiefs are Brock Purdy's kryptonite

The San Francisco 49ers lost 28-18 to the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 7 and fell to 3-4 on the season. They couldn't put up a good performance on Sunday to stay competitive.

Offensively it was a difficult task. The 49ers struggled to move the ball early, both through the air and on the ground, while the defense held up well enough before giving up two consecutive late touchdowns on long, 10-plus-play drives.

The loss marked another poor performance from San Francisco this season. They again struggled to play good football for four quarters, resulting in their fifth straight loss to the Chiefs, who have won every game in the series since 2014.

Here's our immediate reaction to the 49ers' 28-18 loss to the Chiefs on Sunday.

attack

The 49ers offense has taken a lot of criticism for its red zone issues this season and is considered one of the worst teams in the NFL in that regard, but has generally been effective at passing the ball between the 20s move.

Well, that wasn't the case at all on Sunday, as the 49ers' first five drives lasted four plays at most, and the game started with four punts and an interception.

San Francisco was unable to gain anything in the run game as Kansas City dominated the line of scrimmage and Jordan Mason struggled to earn yards both before and after contact.

In the passing game, Brock Purdy just seemed to be off the mark. His accuracy was incredible, which led to a few turnovers, and his poise in the pocket wasn't quite at the level of his play in recent weeks.

A 26-yard run late for Mason marred his inefficient performance, as Purdy was actually the team's leading rusher for much of the first half. Without him dominating like he did, San Francisco was constantly reliant on third downs and only converted on 2/11 of those chances.

The 49ers once again had trouble in opponent territory, as all three of Brock Purdy's interceptions came on the opposite 50-yard line, resulting in a 2/4 day from the red zone, with one of the touchdowns coming as the game closed The end was the end of the fourth quarter.

Overall, many of the 49ers' issues remained, while some new concerns emerged as injuries were a major issue. Star fullback Brandon Aiyuk is feared to have suffered a torn ACL, which would sideline him for the remainder of the year, while Deebo Samuel did not play, among other injuries.

They now have to make some major adjustments ahead of their bye week, which begins next weekend when they host the Dallas Cowboys.

defense

While the final score may not reflect it, the defense started the game really well, getting a stop on the first drive that was only improved by a botched fake punt by Kansas City that gave the offense the ball into the Chiefs' goal . Area.

Unfortunately, that didn't amount to anything as Brock Purdy threw his first interception on the first play of the drive, but the defense got the ball right back with a crazy tip-and-catch interception by Kalia Davis after a great play at the line of scrimmage.

But here too, the offense couldn't take advantage of its chance and led to an early 0-0 game, although the defense forced two turnovers.

There was actually only one killer drive early on by the Chiefs, who scored two touchdowns in the first half, the second coming after a special teams error in punt coverage that gave Kansas City a starting position at the 40-yard line San Francisco provided.

While the 49ers tried to assert themselves in the second half, the defense again contributed, forcing an interception and a punt on the first two drives that could have allowed San Francisco to come back and even take the lead.

The offense scored a touchdown after the pick but couldn't generate anything else. The Chiefs managed to pull away by forcing two more interceptions and completing two long touchdown drives, posting double-digit victories.

Overall, the defense faltered towards the end, but taking these factors into account, they had a good enough showing and put the offense in enough positions to be successful. That just didn't happen often enough on Sunday and the 49ers lost because of it.

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