Chiefs-49ers: Chiefs lose to 49ers, 27-17 at Arrowhead Stadium

The Kansas City Chiefs fell to the San Francisco 49ers in the Chiefs’ third preseason game of 2019, 27-17. The game kicked off at 7:00 p.m. Arrowhead Time.

The 49ers started the game with the ball.

Offense

• First drive: Damien Williams got the first play of the game on a two yard run, followed by a five yard jet sweep by Sammy Watkins. On the very next play, Patrick Mahomes hit Williams on a wheel route — Williams beat a tackler in the open field and took the ball 62 yards for the touchdown.
• Second drive: With Cameron Erving starting at left guard, Andrew Wylie replaced Laurent Duvernay-Tardif as the second team right guard. A touch pass to Williams set up another touch for Watkins, this time on a 13 yard out route. Tyreek Hill got in the action the next play with an 11 yard timing route to set up another fresh set of downs. Hill on a quick out converted another third down from a bunch formation before Austin Reiter was flagged for a holding penalty on a big Williams run. A neutral zone infraction brought half the yardage back, and the first quarter came to a close. Darwin Thompson got into the game to start the second quarter and immediately got a pass for three yards out of the backfield. Another Hill reception on a slant converted the first down and pushed the offense into the redzone. Mahomes’ first two incomplete passes set up a third down scramble that came up just short of the sticks. Harrison Butker came in and hit a 25 yard field goal.
• Third drive: Chad Henne and the second team offense entered the game with Thompson still in as the running back. A pass interference penalty on Mecole Hardman and a run for no gain set up a third and 18 situation. Henne took a three yard sack, and Colquitt boomed a punt away.
• Fourth drive: Kyle Shurmur took over at quarterback from Henne on this drive. Thompson once again got the looks early in the drive, with a nifty run between the tackles that featured some broken tackles. Shurmur dialed up a beautiful pass to Demarcus Robinson for 29 yards, but it was called back for another offensive pass interference. The resulting third and 14 screen pass to Thompson went nowhere and Colquitt came on to punt after the two minute warning.
• Fifth drive: Shurmur took a knee with 5 seconds left to send it to half.
• Sixth drive: With Shurmur still in the game, Darrell Williams got looks as the third running back. Shurmur dialed up a nice pass on a quick out to wide receiver Cody Thompson to convert a short third down. Back-to-back sacks on second and third downs the next set of downs saw the Chiefs offense punting the ball away yet again.
• Seventh drive: With the Chiefs backed up on their own goalline, Shurmur draws a neutral zone infraction with his hard count to give some more space. He hits Byron Pringle for a first down near the boundary, then Darrell Williams gets loose on a run to pick up another first down. A bubble screen to Hardman goes for another 15 yards as Shurmur starts to get into a rhythm. Hardman moves the chains yet again, Selling a deep route that turns into a curl. Running back Carlos Hyde comes in on third and short, but can’t quite pick up the first. The Chiefs opt to go for it, and a Shurmur keeper picks up 15 yards on fourth and one. Pringle on the end around from the six yard line finally punches in the 13 play, 97-yard drive.
• Eighth drive: Quarterback Chase Litton entered the game, and Hyde took over as the fourth string running back. Litton hit new wide receiver Tremon Smith for his first ever catch as a WR on a five yard gain. Litton can’t hit Thompson on the out route just past the sticks, and Colquitt comes in for yet another punt.
• Ninth drive: Litton took over, trying to score quickly. Three consecutive incomplete passes saw the Chiefs unable to move the ball and Colquitt punted the ball away down 10.

Defense

• First drive: After a 3 yard run stop on the opening play, Reggie Ragland got a pressure and forced a bad throw on second down. Damien Wilson was flagged for holding on third down, extending the drive. A first down stop for no gain set up the next set of downs, where the 49ers hit an 18-yard pass to get to midfield. A Bashaud Breeland deflection set up a third and long, but a nine yard pass converted to extend the drive. A third down stop by Anthony Hitchens and Chris Jones forced a fourth down attempt for the 49ers — resulting in Jones swatting the pass down and the Chiefs getting off the field.
• Second drive: Run defense showed up big yet again with Frank Clark and Ragland combining for yet another run stop — this time for a 1 yard gain. A false start penalty pushed the 49ers back, but chunk passes on second and third down moved the ball to the 40 yard line and a new set of downs. After two short stops by the Chiefs defense, Breeland was beat by a Jimmy Garoppolo to Dante Pettis pass for 33 yards. The next play saw Garoppolo hit Matt Breida on a 20 yard touchdown to level the score.
• Third drive: A dropped pass was followed by a 7 yard Breida run, setting up a third and three. The defense held this time, with Frank Clark beating tackle Joe Staley for a seven yard sack, forcing a punt.
• Fourth drive: Morris Claiborne, Darron Lee, and the Chiefs second team defense entered the game at this point, and Lee came up with an early stop on his first snap. Garoppolo hit rookie wide receiver Deebo Samuel for 21 yards across the middle of the field and Pettis for back to back first downs. Three straight runs pushed the 49ers into the redzone, and the Chiefs defense got themselves to a third and three situation. Dan Sorensen got his hand in the throwing lane and broke the pass up, forcing the 49ers to settle for a field goal.
• Fifth drive: The 49ers first team offense took the field under two minutes, and the opening sweep was stopped for a loss by Ben Niemann. An eleven-yard screen pass and a 23 yard pass over Dorian O’Daniel down the middle of the field put the 49ers in field goal range. A second down breakup by rookie cornerback Rashad Fenton saw another redzone third down stop by Niemann short of the sticks. The field goal unit came on to send the 49ers up just before the half.
• Sixth drive: With the 49ers putting in their second team, Ragland and Niemann both came up with big run stops to force a third and five. Defensive end Tanoh Kpassagnon beat his man inside — while lined up as a defensive tackle — for a big sack and forced a punt.
• Seventh drive: A blown coverage by the Chiefs secondary results in a streaking receiver that quarterback Nick Mullens can’t hit. After another poor pass on second down, Mullens converts a first down to Jordan Matthews on third and long. A long completion over the middle to Matthews sends the 49ers into Chiefs territory as the third quarter expires. After two runs to start the fourth quarter, Claiborne clicks and closes downhill to stop a running back swing pass in the redzone. A third and short looks to be stopped short by O’Daniel, but the running back breaks a tackle and converts to keep the drive alive. Finally, running back Jeff Wilson is able to beat Herb Miller to the pylon, and the 49ers score to go back up in the game.
• Eighth drive: Safety Jordan Lucas starts the first drive with good coverage on the tight end in the flat. Mark Fields sticks his nose in the run play to come up with a stop on the next play to force a third and eight. Fenton is then beaten to the boundary for a first down before Claiborne is flagged for a defensive pass interference. Rookie Khalen Saunders makes a run stop to force a third and long, and Armani Watts is unable to come up with the tackle just short of the sticks. The 49ers continued to dink and dunk into the red zone, where Wilson once again found the endzone — this time up the gut of the Chiefs defense.
• Ninth drive: The 49ers came out with a concerted effort to run the ball and kill the clock. They did so to close out the game, resulting in some kneel-downs to kill off the game.

Special Teams

• New wide receiver De’anthony Thomas came up with the opening special teams tackle in his first week back on the opening kickoff.
• Harrison Butker finished off the Chiefs second drive with a 25 yard field goal.
• Rookie Mecole Hardman was the first punt returner on the field for the Chiefs this week. He led off with a 2 yard return. Hardman was also the first kick returner on the field, just before halftime.
• Byron Pringle got looks as a kick returner late in the game as well. A good return was nullified by a Herb Miller block in the back.
• Rashad Fenton got the final looks as the Chiefs kick returner with a 26-yard return in the fourth quarter.

The quarterbacks

• Patrick Mahomes: 8/10, 126 yards, 1 touchdown, 152.1 QB Rating | 1 rush, 8 yards
• Chad Henne: 0/0, 0 yards
• Kyle Shurmur: 9/12, 67 yards, 87.8 QB Rating | 2 rushes, 14 yards
• Chase Litton: 1/6, 5 yards, 39.6 QB Rating

Injury updates

• As expected wide receivers Gehrig Dieter, defensive back Michael Hunter, H-back John Lovett, tight end Deon Yelder, and defensive end Breeland Speaks are not participating.
• Tyrann Mathieu also sat out this week with a shoulder injury, but did suit up on the sideline.
• During the first drive of the game, cornerback Bashaud Breeland went down with a left arm injury. He ran over to the tent and Herb Miller replaced him on the next handful of plays. Breeland returned for the second drive of the game.
• Linebacker Darron Lee came out late in the second quarter with a chest injury. He was replaced by Dorian O’Daniel and did not return.

Game statistics

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