NFL power rankings: Where 49ers stand among 2022 playoff teams

NFL power rankings, Wild Card weekend: No. 2 (Chiefs)

49ers fans admittedly want nothing more of quarterback Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs anymore, and early this season, it was looking as if this 2021 installment of KC was going to be a massive flop.

Mahomes was turnover-prone, the Chiefs defense couldn’t stop anything and Kansas City was out to an atrocious 3-4 start after seven weeks.

So much for all those lofty predictions about KC going a perfect 17-0 during the regular season.

OK, those weren’t realistic. What was realistic, however, was how the Chiefs turned their entire season around in short order, ripping off eight wins in a row and suffering a somewhat-minor blemish in Week 17 by losing to the Bengals and subsequently surrendering the No. 1 seed and a first-round bye.

Unless the Chiefs face off against the Titans, they’ll still hold home-field advantage.

Mahomes might not have played as his record-setting self this season. But he’s still the best signal-caller in the conference with an array of offensive weapons.

But what will ultimately decide if Kansas City can three-peat as AFC champions this season will be that defense, one which finished eighth in scoring after such a disastrous start to the year.