Making sense of the Kansas City Chiefs’ 44-23 dominance against the San Francisco 49ers

Top defenses might not matter too much to the Chiefs’ offense when it’s firing on all cylinders, like it was Sunday.

Facing the No. 1 defensive unit in the NFL, the Chiefs piled up 529 total yards of offense, averaging 9.1 yards per play against the vaunted San Francisco 49ers.

Chiefs wide receiver Mecole Hardman scored three touchdowns — one receiving, two rushing — as Kansas City cruised to a 44-23 win at Levi’s Stadium.

“I’m proud of our team for the job they did,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid told reporters after the game. “This is a very well-coached football team with the 49ers and they got really good football players. ... Their future is bright as can be, but on the other hand, I like the way our guys approached the game. They came out and didn’t caught up in all of that.”

San Francisco’s defense figured to give the Chiefs (5-2) heavy resistance, and with good reason. The 49ers had previously allowed just 14.8 points per game (second-fewest in the league), an NFL-fewest 255.8 yards per game and a league-low 4.2 yards per play.

The Chiefs’ offense, and quarterback Patrick Mahomes and Hardman, especially, made sure those rankings will take a hit now. But it didn’t start off very pretty for the Chiefs.

For the second straight week, Mahomes threw an interception on the Chiefs’ first possession.

His pass intended for Skyy Moore was deflected by Niners safety Tashaun Gipson and safety Talanoa Hufanga came up with a diving pick. Four plays later, the 49ers hit paydirt when Jimmy Garoppolo found wide receiver Ray-Ray McCloud for an 8-yard touchdown and a 10-0 lead.

The Chiefs would answer on their second possession.

Mahomes engineered a nine-play, 73-yard drive that featured tight end Travis Kelce hauling in a 27-yard pass in a third-and-1 situation. The Chiefs quarterback capped the drive with a 3-yard touchdown pass to Hardman, who went in motion across the line of scrimmage and took Mahomes’ short pitch around the left side for the score.

“They didn’t get caught up in being down 10 points,” Reid said. “They just kept playing.”

Mahomes agreed.

“I knew after the pick, we needed to go down and get points on the next drive,” the Chiefs quarterback told reporters. “You don’t want them to get too far ahead because of how efficient and how good their run game is. We were able to move the ball down the field that next drive and get it into the end zone.”

San Francisco kicker Robbie Gould would give his team a 13-7 lead with a 50-yard field goal early in the second quarter. But the Chiefs took the ensuing possession 85 yards as Hardman scored his second touchdown of the game.

During the drive and facing a first-and-10 on the 49ers’ 25-yard line, the Chiefs called a jet-sweep. Hardman, who originally lined up on the left side of the line of scrimmage, went in motion before taking the handoff from Mahomes. He then followed a wall of blockers down the right sideline and scored his first career rushing touchdown to give the Chiefs a 14-13 lead.

The matchup could’ve become much more interesting late in the second quarter, but the Chiefs’ defense turned away the 49ers on third and 3 from the KC 5-yard line with less than two minutes remaining in the first half.

San Francisco got there because of rookie Moore’s muffed punt, his second of the season. The 49ers recovered the miscue at the Chiefs’ 12-yard line. But Garroppolo’s ill-advised pass was picked off by rookie Chiefs cornerback Joshua Williams in the end zone.

The Chiefs responded with an eight-play, 88-yard drive to the 49ers’ 6-yard line before consecutive miscues killed the possession. Running back Jerick McKinnon was penalized for a low block on defensive end Nick Bosa, and the Chiefs moved back 15 yards to the 49ers’ 21 with 11 seconds until halftime.

Without a timeout, the Chiefs sent out Harrison Butker to attempt a 39-yard goal. His kick sailed wide right and the Chiefs went to the locker room with a 14-13 lead.

The Chiefs blew open the game with a 30-point scoring binge in the second half.

Running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire scampered for a 16-yard touchdown run early in the third quarter. Edwards-Helaire’s score was followed by wide receiver Justin Watson hauling in a 4-yard touchdown pass from Mahomes after running back Jerick McKinnon took a screen pass 34 yards on a third-and-20 play.

The 49ers made it close early in the fourth quarter when Garoppolo found tight end George Kittle for a touchdown — that made it a 28-23 game. But the Chiefs immediately responded on their next possession. Receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling’s 57-yard catch and Hardman’s third TD, on a 3-yard run, made it 35-23 Chiefs.

“I thought Mecole did a good job of going fast, being patient, and then hitting it,” Reid said. “And our guys blocked it well.”

The Chiefs would add a safety on Frank Clark’s sack of Garoppolo in the end zone and another touchdown on wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster’s 45-yard catch from Mahomes.

Smith-Schuster led the Chiefs in receiving with seven catches for 124 yards and a touchdown, while Valdes Scantling contributed three catches for 111 yards, averaging an incredible 37 yards per reception. Kelce chipped in six catches for 98 yards, just missing his third 100-yard game of the season.

Mahomes completed 25 of 34 passes for 423 yards and three touchdowns, with one interception, for a 132.4 passer rating. He gave way to backup Chad Henne late in the fourth quarter, but not before connecting with eight different receivers.

“We have guys everywhere in this offense,” Mahomes said. “I mean, the receivers obviously had a big day today, the tight ends have had big games, the running backs had big days. That’s just going to be who we are as an offense. It’s going to be everybody.”

The Chiefs sacked Garappolo five times, led by Chris Jones’ two.

And now the Chiefs have an off-week in Week 8 — no game next weekend.

Here’s what else stood out Sunday afternoon:

PACHECO TIME

The Chiefs shuffled their backfield rotation Sunday by starting rookie Isiah Pacheco over Edwards-Helaire.

Pacheco paced the ground game with 43 carries for eight yards, while Edwards-Helaire chipped in 32 yards and a touchdown on six carries.

As a team, the Chiefs pounded out 112 yards and a touchdown on 21 carries, averaging 5.3 yards per attempt.

Pacheco also helped energize the Chiefs to start the second half with a 48-yard kickoff return. Fifteen penalty yards were added to the end of the play because of a late hit out of bounds. The Chiefs scored a touchdown three plays later.

“That return to start the second half was a thing of beauty,” Reid said. “That really helped us get going there.”

GAY MAKES PRESENCE FELT

The Chiefs unleashed Willie Gay Jr., and probably for good reason because Sunday marked his first action since Week 1.

Fresh off a four-game suspension, Gay showed what the Chiefs were missing with his playmaking skill-set during his four-game NFL suspension.

Late in the second quarter and with the 49ers facing a second-and-15 situation, Gay rushed from the left side of the defensive formation and quickly closed the distance to Garoppolo. Gay chased the quarterback out of the pocket and into the waiting arms of cornerback L’Jarius Sneed, who split the sack with Gay.

Gay finished the game with eight tackles, a half-sack and a quarterback hit.

FRONT FIVE HOLDS

The Chiefs’ offensive line faced a formidable challenge against the 49ers, who entered the weekend with 26 total sacks.

But the Chiefs’ front five, consisting of left tackle Orlando Brown Jr., left guard Joe Thuney, center Creed Humphrey, right guard Trey Smith and right tackle Andrew Wylie, held its own.

The 49ers managed a single sack on Mahomes, courtesy of Bosa. That was it.

“It all starts up front,” Mahomes said. “As long as the offensive line plays like it did today, we’ll have a good day as an offense.”

INJURIES

Reid told reporters after the game there were no injuries from Sunday’s game. And he provided good news on a trio of players: cornerback Rashad Fenton (hamstring), defensive end Mike Danna (calf) and rookie cornerback Trent McDuffie (hamstring, injured reserve).

“We have a chance to get them back here this next week,” Reid said.

Fenton and Danna did not play against the 49ers.

NOT SUITED UP

Fenton, Danna, running back Ronald Jones, quarterback Shane Buechele, defensive end Joshua Kaindoh, rookie offensive lineman Darian Kinnard and rookie defensive back Nazeeh Johnson.

UP NEXT

The Chiefs are on a bye in Week 8 before returning in Week 9 to host the Tennessee Titans on Sunday Night Football at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium.