The San Francisco 49ers were soundly defeated by the Kansas City Chiefs, 44-23, on Sunday. This was a hyped matchup between the two teams due to the debut of San Francisco's newly acquired star running back Christian McCaffrey. Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes spoiled his debut with a historic performance.
Mahomes completed 25 passes for 423 passing yards, three passing touchdowns, and one interception. Chiefs wide receiver Mecole Hardman was the main beneficiary of a hot offense. Hardman had four catches for 32 receiving yards and two carries for 28 rushing yards and three total touchdowns.
Chiefs wide receivers Juju Smith-Schuster and Marquez Valdes-Scantling combined for a scorching ten catches for 235 receiving yards and one receiving touchdown.
The usually dominant 49ers defense gave up a season-high in points and yards against the Chiefs. Offensively, things were not that much better. 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo was sacked five times and the running game struggled to get anything going.
Garoppolo completed 25 passes for 303 passing yards, two passing touchdowns, and one interception. 49ers running back Jeff Wilson led all running backs with 54 rushing yards on seven carries. McCaffrey, in his debut, had eight carries for 38 rushing yards. He also had two catches for 24 receiving yards.
It was National Tight End Day and tight ends George Kittle and Travis Kelce put on a show. Kittle finished the game with six catches for 98 receiving yards and one receiving touchdown while Kelce also had six catches for 98 receiving yards.
49ers wide receivers Brandon Aiyuk and Ray-Ray McCloud III combined for 147 receiving yards and one receiving touchdown.