The San Francisco 49ers will be tasked with the challenge of heading into Arrowhead Stadium on Sunday and finding a way to slow down the red-hot Kansas City Chiefs. 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan has a lot of respect for his opposing Chiefs counterpart, Andy Reid.
Shanahan spoke with reporters before Wednesday's practice and shared that Reid's ability to introduce new concepts and spread the field has always impressed him. What really impresses Shanahan is Reid creating other issues for opposing teams in recent years.
"Over these last four years or so, they've really added the element of the misdirection and stuff, and it's been an issue," Shanahan said. "Not just because of the plays, but the people with the plays. They have the speed at every angle to run those things and really put defenses in a bind because if you hesitate with a 4.3 receiver, and they have three of them, that is a huge issue. If you just play all the 4.3 receivers all day, they've got a pretty good back and a pretty good tight end who can get after you, also."
Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes is an excellent example of how fast things change in the NFL. Jimmy Garoppolo was once the most hyped quarterback in the league. That honor now belongs to Mahomes, who has thrown 10 touchdowns in his first two games this season.
How does Garoppolo feel about being overshadowed by the second-year quarterback?
"I've heard a lot of good things about him," Garoppolo responded when asked on Wednesday. "He's been playing great the first two weeks, so you've got to tip your hat to him. It will be a battle this Sunday."
Shanahan and the 49ers met with and evaluated Mahomes — along with nearly every other quarterback coming out of college — before last year's draft. How did he assess the quarterback and is he surprised by his success?
"You can evaluate talent, and he has a ton of that," Shanahan said. "You can evaluate the person, who we loved. Handled himself great. Seems very intelligent. Seems like a very good kid. Everyone can see his arm strength. Everyone can see the ability. But, it's tough because in a lot of those systems, not just there, you don't get to see everyone really play the position just going through progressions and everything like that, staying in the pocket all the time."
While Mahomes is talented, the offensive weapons around him are a big reason for his early success. The Chiefs possess a lot of speed and explosiveness, which can be challenging to defend.
"They have speed, and they're very good," Shanahan explained. "The whole thing is being sound and not giving them freebies. When you mess up something, and they've got a big arm quarterback, and they've got speed all over, and they've got good players there, they'll score fast. You get a guy out of position it's not usually an explosive, it's a touchdown. If they get a bunch of easy touchdowns and stuff like I think they have a little bit, the score is going to be what you guys have seen.
"You've got to make those guys earn it. You've got to make them work. You can't give them freebies, and that's the key when you have explosive, talented players."
Unfortunately for the 49ers, Sunday will be the Chiefs' first home game of the season. Arrowhead Stadium is already a tough place to play without adding that element to the game. The matchup will be the second time in three weeks that the 49ers play in an opponent's home opener. The first resulted in a 24-16 Week 1 loss to the Minnesota Vikings at U.S. Bank Stadium.
"You've got to definitely take into account the noise," Shanahan said. "I haven't been in Arrowhead for a non-preseason game in a long time. I grew up going to a lot of games there. I always used to think that it was the loudest place in the league.
"I know Seattle with their acoustics can get pretty loud and stuff, but just for the older stadiums and everything that was always the loudest one to me growing up from the outside. When those fans are going, which I know they will be with the team that they have, it's as tough of a place to play as any place."
Garoppolo also discussed the challenges of going into such a hostile environment.
"We know it's going to be loud," Garoppolo added. "That place, I played there my rookie year, and it was rocking. So we know what we're in for."
While the Chiefs' run defense ranks sixth in the league, the pass defense ranks last. Garoppolo, however, isn't assuming he'll have a big day throwing the football.
"They're a good defense," Garoppolo said. "They have a good scheme that ties together well, things that play off of one another. Some talented guys up front who get after the quarterback and some talented guys in the backend too. So, it'll be our job to go out there and execute. I think the communication is a big part, getting that started. We'll go from there."
The 49ers and Chiefs kick off at 10:00 a.m. PT (12:00 p.m. CT) on Sunday.
