Fred Warner has played in two Super Bowl games against Patrick Mahomes and still hasn’t figured out a way to beat him. The 3-3 San Francisco 49ers will attempt to beat the 5-0 Kansas City Chiefs in the Super Bowl rematch and things are even worse this time, especially on the offensive side of the ball. At the same time there are some problems with the defense too.
The 49ers linebacker’s recent statement about the upcoming match up might make the Niners fans anxious. But if Warner wants to disrupt the Chiefs’ flawless record, then he and the rest of the defense must try to find a way to make Patrick Mahomes’ life hard. A part of that would be to put a stop to Travis Kelce’s moves as well. But holding them off isn’t as easy as it sounds.
“Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce, two of the greats in the game. How do you stop them? I don’t know. We’re still trying to figure that out. We got some extra time, extra days to try to figure that out before game day, but you got to make their life hard and don’t give up any freebies and try to limit the amount of big plays that they’re able to make,” Warner said in a conversation with GOAT Farm Sports.
Warner couldn’t do much in the Super Bowl 58 against the Kansas City Chiefs. He had 13 total tackles out of which, 9 were solo. However, things were a bit different during the Super Bowl 54. Not only did Warner pick Mahomes off, but he also recorded 5 solo tackles and defended a pass. But this time, it might be even harder to stop Mahomes from doing his magic.
That’s because the San Francisco 49ers are dealing with myriad injuries on the defensive side of the ball. Right Tackle Jordan Elliott is listed as questionable, linebacker Dre Greenlaw is listed as out, cornerback Charvarius Ward and Safety Malik Mustapha are also listed as questionable and there are a lot of third string defensive players that are on IR right now.
But all this won’t stop Fred Warner from taking a shot at getting Mahomes down. He mentioned in an interview with Markus Boucher of KNBR that he’s played Mahomes 4 times now and for him beating the Chiefs QB will help wipe the bitter taste from the previous losses the 49ers have faced.
“We haven’t (I have yet) to beat him. I think I’ve played against him maybe four times now and have yet to beat him. I think it’s an important game for us to try and get over that hump,” Warner admitted to KNBR. Winning against the Chiefs might need efforts from not just Fred Warner, but also the rest of the roster. Sadly, many of them are still unfit to step foot on the field.
Fred Warner and the defense isn’t the only problem for the Niners
The Bay Area team lost their kicker Jake Moody to an ankle sprain, and he’s listed as doubtful. Reports say that he’ll miss a couple of weeks due to this injury. He’s already missed a game against the Seattle Seahawks. So, will the Niners just ignore all the XPs? Certainly not. The team now has the veteran kicker Matthew Wright as a placeholder for Moody.
Other injuries on the offensive side of the ball include Christian McCaffrey, Jordan Mason and Ricky Pearsall, who are a pivotal part of this Niners offense and have been absent for a while now, except for Mason. While we’re well aware of what’s going on with McCaffrey and Pearsall, there’s some good news surrounding Jordan Mason’s shoulder injury. He was seen in practice wearing a blue non-contact jersey. So, he might make it back to the field soon.
Mason’s style of running has him lowering his shoulders to deal with contact and if he takes any more hits, he might as well be out for the whole season. The San Francisco 49ers rank 17 in terms of passing yards allowed (215.2) and passing touchdowns allowed (8) and 11 in terms of total defense this year. They were better last year and still lost to the Chiefs.
But maybe things will improve going forward because with the Kansas City Chiefs missing Rashee Rice, Isaiah Pacheco and Hollywood Brown, the Bay Area team still stands a chance.
