Quote:
Originally Posted by All22
I'd be surprised if we got a ton of sacks.
I think the 49ers offense beats up on the Chiefs D. The 49ers D goes wide-9 with two safeties deep nearly the entire game and dare the Chiefs to run it.
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Rush with four, play 2 deep, drop 5 into the short/intermediate zones is what most teams try to do against KC now.
The best alignment is one that plays sticky man coverage to prevent quick wins/throws from Mahomes and pairs it with a good pass rush. The Chiefs made nice adjustments to that approach as the season went on, but it's still the best chance. Comes down to personnel.
The 49ers offense will find some success against Kansas City, no doubt. But the Chiefs D is very tough and physical - something I think many are overlooking or unaware of outside those who follow the Chiefs.
Start with the DL: Frank Clark and Terrell Suggs are two of the toughest, nastiest players you're going to find at DE. They're relentless and play with an edge. Pennel and Jones and Nnadi inside are all physical players. Xavier Williams is really the only finesse guy they have been playing regularly, and he's their 4th DT.
At LB, Ragland and Damien Wilson are very physical OLBs. Another key part of the defensive transformation was flipping Wilson to WLB and inserting Ragland at SLB, benching "coverage specialist" WLB Darron Lee (who sucks at coverage and is a weak tackler).
The Ss, Tyrann Mathieu and Dan Sorenson, are both really physical players. When KC goes to its 3-safety defense, with Kyle Fuller playing the deep safety. Even when Ragland comes off and the third safety comes on, a physical player slides into the role of that LB.
^ Long way of me saying that the Chiefs may get BEAT on defense, but they won't get BEAT UP physically.
Last year, the Chiefs' D was a soft, finesse defense. If it couldn't rush the passer and win with pressure, it was worthless. Very different this year.