The San Francisco 49ers' task of finally overcoming the Kansas City Chiefs was made more difficult by an unexpected drain of talent in a loaded wide receiver room.

Already without Jauan Jennings for the game because of a hip issue, the 49ers were dealt a blow when it was revealed Deebo Samuel was battling an illness. Samuel attempted to play through it, but spent most of his time on the sideline, his absence then exacerbated by the 49ers losing Brandon Aiyuk to what they suspect is a torn ACL late in the second quarter.

The news around Aiyuk, the Niners' leading receiver for each of the last two seasons, was devastating, but there's a case to be made that Samuel's inability to play through his illness had more of an impact on the 49er offense.

Samuel, for so long seen as the heartbeat of the offense, managed just four snaps in the 28-18 loss that dropped the 49ers to 3-4.

Afterwards, head coach Kyle Shanahan added more detail around his illness, making it easy to understand why Samuel wasn't able to gut it out.

Asked on the specific nature of Samuel's ailment, which became apparent on Sunday morning, Shanahan said: "Throat, stomach things, just real fatigued. Struggled to breathe, couldn't catch his breath. And so, he kept trying to fight through it, but once he was struggling with the breathing and everything, we had to shut him down.”

Samuel was seen getting oxygen on the sideline at one point in the game and, in the heat of Levi's Stadium, it was always going to be difficult for him to play in such circumstances.

The 49ers undoubtedly missed Samuel's dual-threat ability as a runner and a receiver and the effect that can have on a defense, even one as good as that of the Chiefs.

Now the 49ers need Samuel to rest up and shake off his illness to ensure he is ready for their bid to bounce back in primetime against the Dallas Cowboys.

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