SANTA CLARA — Wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk sustained what the 49ers believe is a season-ending knee injury Sunday, compounding their sorrowful feelings after being dealt a 28-18 loss to the two-time defending champion Kansas City Chiefs.
“No way to sugarcoat that: We got our (butt) kicked today,” coach Kyle Shanahan said.
While Patrick Mahomes made timely plays against the 49ers’ defense similar to his two Super Bowl wins over them, counterpart Brock Purdy had three passes intercepted, the final of which came in the end zone with 9:29 remaining.
Purdy did produce a pair of 1-yard touchdown runs, but Mahomes had one himself as the Chiefs essentially controlled most of the game.
San Francisco 49ers’ Brandon Aiyuk (11) leaps to catch a pass from San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy (13) in the first quarter of their NFL game at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., on Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)
Purdy’s starting wide receivers, Deebo Samuel and Brandon Aiyuk, didn’t last the first half to further hamstring an anemic offense against the Chiefs’ shrewd scheme and powerful linemen.
Whereas Samuel briefly tried playing though a pregame illness, Aiyuk sustained what the 49ers fear is a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee. “That’s what it looks like,” Shanahan said. “We don’t know for sure but doing the tests with the trainers, that’s what we hear.”
The 49ers (3-4) host the Dallas Cowboys (3-3) next Sunday before reaching a Week 9 bye. The Chiefs improved to 6-0 this season, and coach Andy Reid improved to 22-4 coming off a regular-season bye in his career.
The 49ers’ greatest bright spot came from the mere debut of rookie wide receiver Ricky Pearsall, who 50 days earlier survived a gunshot wound through his chest in a San Francisco robbery attempt. Pearsall had three catches for 21 yards.
“We celebrated that (return) almost all week with him. He was going to get eased in today,” Shanahan said. “That changed a little when Deebo went out, and it changed a bunch when Aiyuk went out.”
Aiyuk got injured once hit by defensive backs Trent McDuffie and Chamarri Conner at the Chiefs’ 14-yard line, the price for making a 15-yard catch that set up an Anders Carlson field goal for a 14-6 halftime deficit.
And yet, the 49ers’ receiving corps was still too thin for Purdy to counter Mahomes’ production. The 49ers’ top three wide receivers were unavailable for a second-half comeback bid: Aiyuk was in the locker room, Samuel was out of uniform on the sideline, and Jauan Jennings not suit up at all because of a hip injury that isn’t considered long term.
Kansas City Chiefs’ Chamarri Conner (27) tackles San Francisco 49ers’ Brandon Aiyuk (11) in the second quarter of their NFL game at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., on Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024. Aiyuk would be injured on the play. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)
Two series before Aiyuk’s injury, he dropped a third-down pass at the Chiefs’ 40-yard line, eliciting boos from the home crowd. The next series ended with a third-down overthrow toward Aiyuk. He finished with two catches on six targets for 23 yards, and he didn’t register a touchdown pass since signing a four-year, $130 million deal in late August.
Sunday’s receiver issues really showed in the third quarter when Purdy’s pass to a wayward Ronnie Bell got intercepted at the Chiefs’ 25-yard line by Chris Roland-Wallace. Purdy’s more damning interception came when his arm got hit by George Karlaftis (who beat right tackle Colton McKivitz) and landed in Jaden Hicks’ enemy hands in the end zone, with the 49ers down 21-12.
George Kittle finished with a team-high 92 yards on six catches, and Jacob Cowing’s first two career catches went for 51 yards.
While Purdy was 17-of-31 for 212 yards, Mahomes also wasn’t lights out, completing 16-of-27 passes for 154 yards with interceptions snagged by Kalia Davis and Deommodore Lenoir.
Mahomes’ rushing ability, which converted a fourth-down keeper on their Super Bowl-winning drive eight months ago, helped the Chiefs pull away for critical points in the fourth quarter. Mahomes scored on a fourth-and-goal keeper from the 1, and he punctuated that touchdown by throwing a left shoulder into safety Malik Mustapha.
Earlier on that drive, Mahomes created a career-long 33-yard run by racing down the left sideline past linebackers Fred Warner and Dee Winters.
Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes (15) runs to avoid being sacked by San Francisco 49ers’ Nick Bosa (97) in the second quarter of their NFL game at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., on Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)
Lenoir intercepted Patrick Mahomes pass and returned it to the 23-yard line, setting the stage for a touchdown drive that ended with a 1-yard sneak by Purdy, who three snaps earlier converted on another 1-yard sneak. That pulled the 49ers within 14-12, and rather than go for a tying 2-point conversion, replacement kicker Anders Carlson went in and missed a point-after kick off the left post.
The first-half scoring summary: Kansas City scored two touchdowns (Kareem Hunt runs), and the 49ers scored on two field goals (by Anders Carlson, their third kicker in as many games).
Carolson’s 24-yard field goal as the first half expired capped a wild drive that featured the first career catches by Pearsall (six yards) and Cowing (nine yards), but the bigger moments were a 41-yard completion to George Kittle and then the big-time injury to Aiyuk on his catch at the 14-yard line.
The 49ers fell behind 7-3 early in the second quarter, when three defensive penalties in the red zone set up Hunt’s 1-yard touchdown plunge to cap a 70-yard drive. Nick Bosa and Kevin Givens drew offside penalties, and the 49ers got caught with too many men on the field immediately preceding Hunt’s score.
The 49ers’ first highlight came, believe it or not, on special teams, although technically their starting defense was still on the field when they stopped a fake punt by the Chiefs, with Jordan Elliott tackling Jaden Hicks a yard shy on fourth-and-2 from the Chiefs’ 44.
Carlson — 49ers third kicker in three games — made a 55-yard field goal in his debut for 3-0 lead, 1:06 left in first quarter.
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San Francisco 49ers’ Anders Carlson (41) kicks a field goal against the Kansas City Chiefs in the first quarter at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., on Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
