The Kansas City Chiefs downed the San Francisco 49ers on Saturday evening 19-16 in an exhibition opener at Levi’s Stadium that saw little from the anticipated starters for the teams, but encouraging signs for both from back-ups and rookies looking to make the rosters for September.
San Francisco rookie quarterback Trey Lance connected on an 80-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter that brought loud cheers from a partisan throng of fans wearing the 49ers red-and-gold color scheme. The Niners traded three first-round picks to draft Lance third overall in April’s draft, with hopes of finding the franchise’s “quarterback of the future”.
Lance’s early connection with Trent Sherfield was mixed with an offensive line performance that saw the North Dakota State product sacked four times by the Chiefs defensive front, and a number of dropped passes that disappointed coach Kyle Shanahan.
Patrick Mahomes played briefly in the opening quarter for Kansas City, then sat to protect the former Super Bowl and NFL MVP from potential injury, as Chad Henne threw a TD pass to Bryon Pringle, while rookie Shane Buechele won the game for KC with a one-yard QB sneak with 1:14 remaining in the fourth quarter.
The Chiefs left for home late Saturday night doing “OK” but not perfect on the injury front, according to coach Andy Reid:
For San Francisco, a predictable quarterback battle between a talented yet inexperienced rookie, and a veteran that has so far failed to reach his potential is taking shape, as Lance finished just 5 of 14 for 128 yards and a touchdown, while Jimmy Garoppolo was 3 for 3 for 26 yards in his one drive of the night.
San Francisco sat out 22 players for the game, including nearly all of the predicted opening day starters from one of the best defenses in the league. Kansas City, while playing very few starters more than a series or two, only sat out one starter in linebacker Willie Gay, Jr.
New Chiefs left tackle Orlando Brown saw his first action with the two-time defending AFC champions, admitting that the process of becoming acclimated to his new team remains a “work in progress”:
In their second games of the preseason, Kansas City will visit Glendale, Arizona to play the Cardinals on Friday night, with San Francisco heading down the California coast to Los Angeles to participate to two practices against the Chargers before their game at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood on Sunday, August 22nd.
Photo credit – Pexels of Pixabay / Wikimedia Commons / Santa Clara, CA
