Nick Bosa points out obvious and infuriating reason for Patrick Mahomes' backbreaking play against 49ers
There were a lot of plays that could be labeled as key in the San Francisco 49ers' latest loss at the hands of the Kansas City Chiefs. But the one that could best be described as the backbreaker came with 1:06 remaining in third quarter, shortly after Brock Purdy had tossed his second interception of […]
There were a lot of plays that could be labeled as key in the San Francisco 49ers' latest loss at the hands of the Kansas City Chiefs.
But the one that could best be described as the backbreaker came with 1:06 remaining in third quarter, shortly after Brock Purdy had tossed his second interception of the game, spurning a chance for the 49ers to take the lead.
Patrick Mahomes was flushed from the pocket on second-and-7 on the San Francisco 37. He escaped to his left evaded a tackle attempt from Fred Warner and then juked another 49ers linebacker, Dee Winters, on the sideline to stroll 33 yards down the sideline and put the Chiefs in business at the 49ers' four-yard line.
Four plays later, Mahomes found the endzone on a quarterback draw, giving the Chiefs a 21-12 lead. The 49ers had chances to climb back into the game, but it was an uphill battle from there.
Warner placed the blame on himself for his initial missed tackle.
"It's a play that I've gotta make," said Warner. "I'm leaving my coverage to try make a play and I'm right there, gotta make it."
But defensive end Nick Bosa suggested another reason why Mahomes was able to cruise down the sideline without being touched, pointing to rules that could have seen Winters draw a penalty for a late hit.
"I didn't see exactly how that play went," said Bosa. "The rules do make it tough, but it's not an excuse."
Bosa is right on both counts. The 49ers should have stopped Mahomes on that play, but he was not alone in making the observation that the rules around hitting players late out of bounds give scrambling quarterbacks an advantage in that area of the field in perhaps making defenders hesitant to hit them.
Still, nobody will feel sorry for the 49ers for the rules perhaps hindering them on that play. San Francisco had chances to beat Kansas City, and that was just one of a catalogue of plays that summed up why a 49ers team that has failed to finish too many games this season heads into Week 8 with a disappointing 3-4 record.
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They know what it will take.
