The 49ers and Chiefs last met in a fairly significant game. They’ll get together again on Sunday at Levi’s Stadium.
On Wednesday, San Francisco coach Kyle Shanahan was asked what pops out in his mind when he thinks about his last meeting with the Chiefs, in Super Bowl LIV.
“That we lost,” Shanahan said.
The 49ers lost after blowing a 10-point lead with less than seven minutes to go. Shanahan has had to re-live the trauma this week, as he prepares to face the Chiefs again.
“I hadn’t watched it for a while until these last two days, but yeah, I don’t like watching it, but this week it wasn’t about that,” Shanahan said. “I had to watch it for schematic reasons and what our history is together.”
Shanahan still has fond memories of the 2019 49ers.
“I love thinking of our team that year,” he said. “I felt like that year we had the best team in football, but we ended up being the second best because we didn’t get it done in the end.”
This time around, they’ll face an even more experienced version of quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
"[He’s] been in a lot more situations, more experience,” Shanahan said of Mahomes. “He was unbelievable then and he is unbelievable now.”
This time, the 49ers won’t have to worry about receiver Tyreek Hill. But Shanahan is still worried about the Kansas City offense.
“They’re missing the fastest guy on the planet, to me, but they have a lot of players all over and the quarterback spreads it around and they’re still just as effective,” Shanahan said.
Indeed they are. And both teams lost on Sunday, raising the stakes for a rematch that will break the 7-7 tie in the all-time series. Unless they tie.
