How Will the Chiefs Try to Neutralize the 49ers' Pass Rush?

The Chiefs and 49ers last played in Week 7 of the 2022 season, and it wasn’t even close. K.C. won 44-23 and did whatever it wanted to on offense. Yes, these teams were somewhat different, but there is plenty to take from that game that might translate to Super Bowl LVIII.

The main takeaway was that Andy Reid made a concerted effort to neutralize the 49ers’ pass rush, and more specifically, Nick Bosa. He saw that as a priority for attacking this defense. And success in this area allowed the Chiefs to hit big play after big play in the passing game (7 completions of 20+ yards).

The similarities between last season and this season are that the 49ers defense still goes through its front-4. The pass rush can take over a game. But if they don’t, the secondary is vulnerable.

The bad news for San Francisco is that their pass rush hasn’t quite been as overwhelming as it was a year ago. Their pressure percentage was down slightly year over year. And in the playoffs, both the Packers and Lions were able to go through long stretches of the game where their quarterbacks weren’t touched. Their passing games had a lot of success as a result.

That said, the Chiefs have allowed more pressure this season than a year ago and actually finished the regular season in the bottom-10 in pressure % allowed (Pro-Football-Reference). Which means it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Reid give the same level of extra attention to Bosa and company in this matchup as he did last season.

Below, you can see some of the tactics Reid used last time that might make an appearance on Super Bowl Sunday.