The 49ers have gotten close to winning a Super Bowl three times in the last four years, but the Chiefs can actually teach the Niners some valuable lessons.
The San Francisco 49ers are an awfully good team. They’re going to be in the discussion as a Super Bowl contender after falling short of ultimately winning it in three of the last four years, including the most recent exit in the NFC Championship game to the ultimate loser of Super Bowl LVII, the Philadelphia Eagles.
Niners fans probably feel good about Philly suffering a defeat on such a national stage, but with it coming at the hands of the team that last knocked San Francisco out in the Super Bowl, the Kansas City Chiefs, whatever joys are probably short-lived.
It doesn’t mean the 49ers should avoid learning the lessons KC is able to teach, though.
Sure, Kansas City should have taught the Niners some lessons back in February of 2020 in Super Bowl LIV, but with quarterback Patrick Mahomes and Co. looking to shape up what’ll likely be the NFL’s next dynasty (if it isn’t one already), San Francisco needs to take note.
No. 1 Chiefs lesson to 49ers: Don’t settle on an OK quarterback
In Super Bowl LIV, the 49ers had a good quarterback in Jimmy Garoppolo. KC, meanwhile, had a perennial MVP candidate in Mahomes.
Without diving too deep into the memories of which team won that game, at least the Niners have tried upgrading that position, namely in 2021 by aggressively trading up for and then selecting quarterback Trey Lance at No. 3 overall in that year’s NFL Draft.
Whether or not Lance will be the guy, or if it’ll end up being last year’s surprise phenom, Brock Purdy, is to be seen.
However, settling on an “OK” quarterback is never a good idea.
FanSided NFL insider Matt Verderame often preached this on the Stacking the Box Podcast, namely by saying there should be two kinds of teams in the NFL: Those that have an elite quarterback, and those that need to be trying to land one.
Kansas City is in the former category, while the Niners are in the latter (for now).
No. 2 Chiefs lesson to 49ers: Don’t neglect the offensive line
A year after the Chiefs beat San Francisco in the Super Bowl, a potent Tampa Bay Buccaneers pass rush absolutely demolished Patrick Mahomes and a makeshift, banged-up KC offensive line in Super Bowl LV.
How did Kansas City respond? By aggressively upgrading the O-line by grabbing Orlando Brown and Joe Thuney, and then the Chiefs doubled down by making even more moves in the NFL Draft.
What’s astounding is that KC’s O-line surrendered precisely zero sacks against an Eagles defense that led the league with a whopping 70 sacks during the regular season.
And 49ers fans can recall how that Philly pass rush all but ruined the Niners’ bid to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl.
Granted, San Francisco hasn’t neglected the O-line in recent years, including using a 2021 second-round pick on left guard Aaron Banks rather than re-sign a fan-favorite in Laken Tomlinson, while All-Pro left tackle Trent Williams also inked a hefty contract to stay put, too.
Should the 49ers relent and give up this kind of attention, though?
Kansas City would say, “no.”
No. 3 Chiefs lesson to 49ers: Stick with your core players (and only your core players)
As soon as the Chiefs committed long term to Patrick Mahomes, especially financially, it was going to be awfully difficult to retain the same group of Super Bowl-winning players who helped beat the Niners in February of 2020.
Easily, the biggest transaction KC made to highlight this was last offseason’s trade of All-Pro wide receiver Tyreek Hill to the Miami Dolphins.
A blockbuster, yes. But Kansas City was willing to do this because it had a more important offensive weapon, tight end Travis Kelce.
Granted, the Chiefs brought in other wideouts to help alleviate Hill’s departure, namely JuJu Smith-Schuster and Marquez Valdes-Scantling. Yet those names don’t equate to Hill whatsoever.
Read More: Travis Kelce long surpassed George Kittle as NFL’s best tight end
That said, Kelce was the guy in Super Bowl LVII with six catches for 81 yards and a touchdown, and he’ll continue to be that guy for as long as he’s with the Chiefs.
Everyone else in the skill positions is ancillary and replaceable.
Granted, San Francisco hasn’t committed big money to a quarterback entering 2023, so it can hold onto riches like tight end George Kittle, running back Christian McCaffrey and wide receivers Deebo Samuel and Brandon Aiyuk.
However, the 49ers can’t be afraid to move on from non-core names when the time comes.
No. 4 Chiefs lesson to 49ers: Defenses are cool and important, but…
The NFL isn’t reverting back to the 1970s or the 1980s. Heck, even the 1990s were much more defensive-heavy.
Winning on offense is what the league prioritizes now, and all four teams in the conference championship games epitomized that with top-10 offenses, the Chiefs and Eagles being at Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, while both the Niners and Cincinnati Bengals were in the bottom half of the top 10.
San Francisco had the NFL’s best defense, yes. Cincy’s was fifth best, while Philly finished the regular season at No. 8.
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Kansas City? Well, its defense was 16th in scoring.
Look, having a good defense is awfully important, and the 49ers aren’t about to start dismantling an elite front-seven unit in order to free up more money for more wide receivers.
However, at least based on how the Chiefs won Super Bowl LVII, it’s not about having an elite defense.
No, in today’s NFL, having a defense that’s good enough will suffice.