3. San Francisco leads the league with 27 red zone drives.
The 49ers’ balanced offense (which ranks second in passing and third in rushing) has marched down the field on a regular basis this year, racking up the most red zone drives (27) of any team in the league. For what it’s worth, however, San Francisco has often struggled to convert those possessions into touchdowns.
In fact, San Francisco has converted those drives into touchdowns at just a 44.4% clip, which ranks 25th in the league. Additionally, in “goal-to-go” situations, the 49ers are just 7-for-14 in terms of scoring touchdowns.
Those struggles are in stark contrast to the 49ers’ success in the red zone last season in which they led the league in touchdown efficiency at 67.2%, and the absence of running back Christian McCaffrey is likely the primary answer as to why. McCaffrey, who has yet to play this season due to injury, scored a whopping 18 red zone touchdowns in 2023. The 49ers have largely managed to make up for his production offensively, but it’s fair to say they haven’t been the same team in the red zone without him.
Regardless, quarterback Brock Purdy has been excellent this season while spreading the ball around to his multitude of weapons in the passing game. Purdy ranks second in the league in passing yards (1,629) so far this season, and upon a closer look, he’s thrived on intermediate throws between 10 and 19 yards from the line of scrimmage. Purdy leads the NFL in attempts (61), completions (42) and passing yards (746) on those throws, which have primarily taken place over the middle of the field.
It’s all to say that the Chiefs will need to pay significant attention to the middle of the field on Sunday as they try to slow down Purdy and the 49ers’ high-powered offense.
Kansas City’s pass-rush may have its opportunities on Sunday, too. Purdy has only been sacked 12 times on the season, but he’s been pressured the third-most times (86) of any quarterback in the league. That high pressure total is likely due to his league-high average time to throw of 3.35 seconds, but to his credit, Purdy has only allowed 15.3% of his dropbacks under pressure to end in a sack.
The Chiefs will aim to reverse that trend on Sunday.
4. The 49ers rank 12th in the NFL in scoring defense.
San Francisco is yielding 21.7 points-per-game on average this season due in large part to its 11 takeaways as a team, which rank fifth in the NFL. Edge rusher Nick Bosa also remains among the top pass-rushers in the league as his 35 pressures are the second-most of any player.
On the other hand, the 49ers have struggled on third down (where they rank 23rd) and in the red zone (where they’re 19th), and in what has become a bit of a trend, the second half of games has been an issue for San Francisco this year, too. The 49ers have outscored the opposition by 53 points in the first half this season, which ranks second in the NFL, but in the second half, opponents have outscored the 49ers by 21 points.
The Chiefs have outscored opponents at the fourth-best rate in the second half this year (at +31), and if they’re to win on Sunday, Kansas City will need to put forth a similar effort.