3 Takeaways from Chiefs' Week 7 Win vs. 49ers

At the end of the 2019 season, the Kansas City Chiefs defeated the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl LIV and ended a 50-year championship drought. On Sunday, the two teams met again, and the result was the same.

The Chiefs overcame a slow start and pulled away late for a 44-23 win over the 49ers at Levi's Stadium. After San Francisco cut Kansas City's lead to five points with 14 minutes and 16 seconds to go in the fourth quarter, the Chiefs reeled off 16 unanswered points to end the game.

It was a dominant performance by Kansas City's offense, which racked up 529 total yards. Patrick Mahomes led the way, passing for 423 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Chiefs to victory.

Here are three takeaways from Kansas City's Week 7 win.

The 49ers do not have a bad defense. And yet, they were completely overmatched by the Chiefs' offense. This performance served as a reminder of how dangerous Kansas City can be on that side of the ball, even with Tyreek Hill no longer around.

Mahomes served as the facilitator, and he spread the ball around evenly to all of the playmakers surrounding him. JuJu Smith-Schuster had seven catches for 124 yards and a touchdown. Marquez Valdes Scantling had three catches for 111 yards. Travis Kelce had six catches for 98 yards. And Mecole Hardman scored three total touchdowns (two rushing and one receiving).

Clyde Edwards-Helaire had a rushing score, while Justin Watson had a receiving TD. By the end, the Chiefs matched their season high with 44 points and had their third game with more than 40 points this season.

“To go out against a defense like this and show that we can still be explosive and have those big plays, I think that will bode well for us as the season goes on and people don’t know where it’s going to come from,” Mahomes said, per Josh Dubow of the Associated Press.

Mahomes is right, as opponents likely won't be able to shut down all of the talented players on Kansas City's offense. And with everybody on the unit clicking like this, more huge outputs could be coming in the near future.

One area in which the Chiefs have needed to improve early in the season is their pass rush. Through their first six games, Kansas City had recorded only 14 total sacks. But it did a much better job of creating pressure on Sunday.

The Chiefs sacked 49ers QB Jimmy Garoppolo five times and had eight quarterback hits. Chris Jones led the way with two sacks, while Frank Clark had 1.5, one of which resulted in a safety. Kansas City's defensive front also helped force some errant throws, as Joshua Williams and Juan Thornhill each notched an interception.

Even though the Chiefs fell behind 10-0 in the first quarter, their defense stayed resilient.

“I think we actually play better when we’re down,” Jones said, per The Athletic's Nate Taylor. “I don’t like to be down because it causes so much pressure on us. But I guess we like challenging ourselves at this point.”

It was an encouraging showing for Kansas City's defensive front, as it shows what the unit is capable of moving forward.

If the Chiefs had lost on Sunday, they would have been 4-3 and entering their bye week on a two-game losing streak. They lost 24-20 to the Buffalo Bills in Week 6, so it would have been disappointing for them to fall again in Week 7.

That's why it was so important for Kansas City to put together the type of all-around performance it had against San Francisco. Now, the Chiefs are 5-2 and get an opportunity to take a week to prepare before facing one of the AFC's other top teams: the Tennessee Titans (4-2).

Kansas City has looked impressive early in the year, and it may not have even reached its full potential quite yet.

“We’re going to continue to get better and better,” Mahomes said, per Taylor.

So the Chiefs appear to be well on their way to another successful season that will likely result in another trip to the playoffs and a potential deep postseason run. There's also a good chance that they'll come out of the bye and pick up right where they left off this week.