49ers vs. Chiefs: 5 matchups San Francisco must win in Week 7

The 49ers face a tall order in trying to beat the Chiefs in Week 7, but it’ll happen if the Niners end up winning these five vital matchups.

Both the San Francisco 49ers and Kansas City Chiefs should be angry heading into their Week 7 matchup against each other this Sunday at Levi’s Stadium.

The Niners should be angry after squandering what was a great shot to go 2-0 on a two-game East Coast road trip, falling to the Atlanta Falcons in embarrassing fashion, while KC should be upset after missing multiple chances to pull off a statement win over the Buffalo Bills at Arrowhead Stadium last Sunday.

Sure, there’ll be talk about what happened between San Francisco and Kansas City in Super Bowl LIV back in February of 2020, but the context of this Sunday’s matchup should be entirely different.

Currently, the 49ers sit as home underdogs, and it’s not hard to understand why with their offense being so inconsistent and the defense so banged up.

However, with some reinforcements hopefully on their way, the Niners can pull off the upset if they end up winning these five matchups in Week 7.

49ers vs. Chiefs matchup No. 5: Fred Warner on Travis Kelce

San Francisco is going to use a number of different combinations to take away Kansas City’s top pass-catching weapon, All-Pro tight end Travis Kelce, but many of those combos figure to involve the 49ers’ own All-Pro, linebacker Fred Warner.

This is about as premier a matchup as there’ll get in the NFL this weekend, as Kelce enters the game with an exceptional 455 yards receiving and seven touchdowns, which will be put to the test against Warner, who has allowed opposing quarterbacks to complete only 60.9 percent of passes his way for a passer rating of 76.9 on the season.

Warner will need some help, though, and the Niners may already be at a slight disadvantage with strong safety Talanoa Hufanga still in the concussion protocol.

That said, San Francisco’s best bet might be to sell out and take away Kelce’s prowess even if it opens up dangerous matchups elsewhere.

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