Kansas City Chiefs – San Francisco 49ers
The Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers kicked off this rivalry in 1971, and in those 50+ years since, they have met the grand total of 14 times.
The series is split evenly down the middle, with both teams winning 7 times, as of October 2022. These two franchises have met in the playoffs, just the once, but it came on the biggest stage of all, when they clashed at Super Bowl LIV in 2020. Let’s begin our look back at this rivalry, with the events of that night in Miami.
Kansas comes through
13 of the 14 times these sides have met, were in your ol’ run of the mill regular season, with San Francisco winning 7 of those. The one time these sides met in the postseason, it was Kansas that came out on top, winning 31 – 20 after an epic fourth quarter comeback.
The Chiefs were down 20-10 with less than seven minutes left in the game, but would score 21 unanswered points, to stun the 49ers. This would mark the second Super Bowl win for KC, while San Francisco can rest easy, knowing they’ve won five Lombardi trophies.
MVP Mistake?
Generational Chiefs’ quarterback Patrick Mahomes was named MVP, throwing for two touchdowns, and running in for another. Many observers felt that running back Damien Williams was robbed though, as he became the first player in NFL history to rush for 100 yards, and to have both a rushing and receiving touchdown in a Super Bowl. He probably has a reason to feel hard done by, but a Super Bowl ring definitely makes things better.
Quarterback Switches
With so many teams in the NFL, we see a lot of players, go to a lot of different teams either through a trade, or through free agency. Therefore, it’s a bit of an anomaly, that so many quarterbacks (well, 5), have gone directly from the San Francisco 49ers, to the Kansas City Chiefs.
The most famous of these is Joe Montana, one of the best to ever play the game, who had two seasons with the Chiefs, after being replaced by Steve Young at San Fran. Montana would have a more than respectable career at Kansas, finishing with a 17-8 record, and leading the Chiefs to their first division win in over 20 years. He got KC to the playoffs in both of his seasons there, before retiring after losing to Dan Marino and the Miami Dolphins.
Alex Smith is another notable player to make the move. Drafted number one by the San Francisco 49ers, ahead of local boy Aaron Rodgers, Smith had a mixed time in the Bay, but went to another level after being traded to the Chiefs in 2013. He finished with a record of 50-26, but went 1-4 in the playoffs. Still, it was good to see Smith fulfil his number 1 pick potential, as he became one of the best game managers in the NFL.
The only QB to go from the Chiefs to the 49ers, is Bob Gagliano, who finished with a record of 1-0 in San Francisco. Not quite the same level of success, but hey, a 100% record, is a 100% record!
Home Comforts
Taking away the Super Bowl neutral venue, the home side in this rivalry, has won the last ten games. San Francisco are the home team next up @ Levi’s Stadium and probably available at a good price. Who’s feeling lucky?