Kansas City Chiefs ride dominant second half to 44-23 win vs. San Francisco 49ers

The Kansas City Chiefs are headed into their bye week on a wave of momentum following their 44-23 victory over the San Francisco 49ers in Week 7.

Kansas City is now 5-2 on the year while San Francisco is just 3-4.

Sunday’s tilt started in stark difference to how it ended, with the 49ers taking command early. They led 10-0 after just eight and a half minutes of game time, a stretch that included an interception thrown by Patrick Mahomes, but the Chiefs’ offense woke up after that.

Kansas City scored touchdowns on each of its next two possessions and had another chance to score right before the half, although that drive ended in a missed field goal. The halftime score was 14-13, but it was all Chiefs from that point forward.

They scored touchdowns on four consecutive drives to open the second half, extending the lead from one point to 21 points in that window, adding a safety on defense and surrendering 10 points in the process.

Mahomes had another massive statistical day, going 25-of-34 passing for 423 yards with three touchdowns and one interception. That marks the eighth game in his career with 400 or more yards passing, all of which have come with three or more touchdown passes, and he’s now tied for the second most wins by a quarterback in the first 70 starts of a career with 55.

Sunday’s win was a big one for some of the newest members of the offense, free agent acquisitions JuJu Smith-Schuster and Marquez Valdes-Scantling. Smith-Schuster caught seven passes for 124 yards and a touchdown, the second game in a row he’s gone over 100 yards receiving and the most he’s had in a game since Dec. 9, 2018.

Valdes-Scantling bounced back from a zero-catch performance last week with three receptions in Week 7, racking up 111 yards for his first 100-yard game with the Chiefs.

Travis Kelce, on National Tight Ends Day, tallied six receptions for 98 yards.

The Chiefs’ rushing attack was led by Isiah Pacheco on Sunday, who made the first start of his career and gained 43 yards on eight carries. However, it was Mecole Hardman who was the most effective ball carrier for Kansas City, picking up 28 yards and two touchdowns on as many carries.

For more coverage of the Kansas City Chiefs’ win over the San Francisco 49ers, check out Mic’d Up with Jake and Fulton from noon-3 p.m., then 580 Sports Talk with Brendan and Dan Monday on 580 WIBW.