49ers vs. Chiefs 3rd quarter: The wide receivers are dropping like flies

Mahomes found Gray for 30 yards, then Mecole Hardman ran 20 yards. It wasn’t long until the Chiefs were inside San Francisco’s 10-yard line. A trio of defensive penalties brought the ball to the inch-yard line, where Kareem Hunt would score the go-ahead touchdown to give Kansas City an early 7-3 lead.

The 49ers did not answer on offense — or special teams, for that matter. Purdy threw it into Dominick Puni’s helmet on second down. Brandon Aiyuk had a step on third down, and would have had an explosive play, but ran before he had possession of the ball.

The special teams, as they tend to do, gave up a 55-yard return to put the Chiefs into the scoring zone.

The defense forced a 3rd & 5, and after covering everybody initially, Mahomes extended the drive as he always does, and found a receiver for a first down. The defense would have another opportunity, this time on 3rd & 3.

Dee Winters, who was the new starting nickel linebacker, was a bit too aggressive, left his feet, and missed the tackle. One play later, Hunt scored again to make it 14-3.

Up until this point, the Chiefs had 30 plays compared to the 49ers 13. The Niners always talk about playing complementary football, but that did not exist through 1.5 quarters. More than ever, the offense would need to answer.

Who would they go to? Kittle had a 22-yarder. But on the ensuing play, two players missed a block on George Karlaftis. Then, on 3rd & 12, Purdy missed Aiyuk after there was another unblocked pressure. Tom Brady, the color commentator, called it an “average throw and even worse pass protection.”

Mitch Wishnowsky had already tied his season-high in a game for punts with four before the end of the second quarter. The 49ers were 0-for-5 on third downs and proved that, once again, they had no answer for the blitzes from Spags.

With 1:39 remaining in the second quarter, San Francisco had more penalties (6) than first downs (2).

We’d get our first Ricky Pearsall reception during the two-minute drive. There was no Deebo, as Samuel was in the locker room. On third down, Shanahan dialed up a gem of a call, getting Kittle isolated on a safety for a 41-yard gain.

Aiyuk caught a 15-yard pass to follow it up but appeared to roll both of his ankles. So, with 37 seconds to go inside the red zone, the 49ers would be without their top three wide receivers. Jacob Cowing made his first career catch on a screen pass.

The Niners were able to manage a field goal out of the drive to make the score 14-6 before halftime. But Aiyuk was carted to the locker room where he looked to sustain a serious knee injury.