For the first time since February, the Kansas City Chiefs took on the San Francisco 49ers. Sunday’s outing wasn’t quite the same as Super Bowl LVIII, but it still added to the ongoing (and rare) rivalry between AFC and NFC clubs.

After the home team took a 3-0 lead, Kansas City responded with two touchdowns in the second quarter. There was some back and forth between the reigning conference champions in the second half, but after a rushing touchdown by Patrick Mahomes in the final quarter, the Chiefs never looked back. It’s a 28-18 win for Andy Reid’s team and one that maintains their perfect record and moves to 6-0 on the year.

With that in mind, here are four takeaways from Sunday’s game.

After losing cornerback L’Jarius Sneed in the offseason, the Chiefs’ defense has likely plummeted from perhaps the best unit in football to a good-to-great group. However, considering how high they were on the throne a season ago, that’s by no means a small feat. To be able to lose such a talented and fundamental player and Then It’s impressive to maintain a good footing in a league where defenses are as inconsistent as ever. No matter the opponent or the circumstances, this Kansas City defense continues to answer the call. For the most part, Sunday was no different.

Spagnuolo and Co. set the tone from the start and held San Francisco to just six points in the first half of the game. While the 49ers went 0-for-3 on third downs in the first quarter, they gained just one first down in this frame and had 28 yards on 10 plays. Here’s how their drives ended before a touchdown in the third quarter:

This production is performed seven days a week and particularly on Sundays. Forcing multiple turnovers on Brock Purdy, slowing down Jordan Mason for much of the game and making the most of San Francisco being outgunned with multiple weapons were the keys to another outstanding defensive performance.

It’s been well-documented that the state of the Chiefs’ wide receiver room has been far from ideal this season. In addition to Marquise “Hollywood” Brown and Rashee Rice both being sidelined with their respective long-term shoulder and knee injuries, JuJu Smith-Schuster started Week 7 with a hamstring issue that limited him from practice on Thursday and Friday. Even though the veteran pass catcher was ultimately ready to go on Sunday, the performance was ultimately short-lived.

Despite his best efforts, Smith-Schuster simply couldn’t get through the game. He left in the first quarter with a hamstring injury and was later excluded from the team. It would have been a better time to recover from such a serious injury before the break week, but instead Kansas City is trying to move forward with a top wideout that may be below 100%. Relying on rookie Xavier Worthy and veterans like Mecole Hardman, Justin Watson and Skyy Moore is dangerous, even more dangerous than the Chiefs were before Smith-Schuster was injured.

Even though Isiah Pacheco is on the injured reserve list due to a broken fibula, the Chiefs haven’t shied away from dominating the football. Part of this philosophical shift is likely due to the aforementioned injuries to Brown and Rice, but Kansas City is also capitalizing on the strengths of its specific runners. Combined with the return of Kareem Hunt looking fresh and the defense leaving plenty of room for error, this paved the way for the reigning champions to continue playing complementary football. It was similar on Sunday.

The offense, which ranked ninth in the league in rushing attempts per game, somehow significantly exceeded its average in Week 7. Before their final drive of the game, which iced the game, Kansas City threw the ball 37 times for a whopping 186 yards and four (yes, four) touchdowns. Hunt once again exceeded the 20-attempt threshold and rookie defenseman Carson Steele also got a handful of carries. A 33-yard dash from Mahomes was outstanding, and Hardman recorded two nice runs on sweeps. The mix of traditional and modern runs kept San Francisco honest and also allowed the Chiefs to gain a possession advantage.

Over the weekend, my Kansas City Chiefs via SI Colleague Mark Van Sickle discussed how Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs have had success against the 49ers in the past. Since the two-time NFL MVP took over as the club’s full-time starter in 2018, Kansas City entered Sunday’s game 4-0 against San Francisco. This includes two Super Bowl triumphs. Week 7 definitely featured one of the more vulnerable Chiefs teams in this series, but that didn’t matter.

Although the 49ers seemingly downplayed the revenge aspect of this regular-season championship rematch, it would be foolish to think that this contest had no special meaning to them. With the Chiefs winning again, sentiments border on the rivalries Kansas City has with some teams in its own conference. Kyle Shanahan is a great coach and the 49ers are a good team even though they’re 3-4, but they can’t seem to get over the hump against this group.

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