Nick Bosa deserves a cathartic experience in the 49ers' Week 7 Super Bowl rematch with the Chiefs
When asked about this weekend's Super Bowl rematch between the San Francisco 49ers and Kansas City Chiefs, Trent Williams has consistently espoused the same line of thinking. For All-Pro left tackle Williams, it's clear that the Niners' heartbreaking overtime loss in Super Bowl 58 in February is in the past, and that no victory this […]
When asked about this weekend's Super Bowl rematch between the San Francisco 49ers and Kansas City Chiefs, Trent Williams has consistently espoused the same line of thinking.
For All-Pro left tackle Williams, it's clear that the Niners' heartbreaking overtime loss in Super Bowl 58 in February is in the past, and that no victory this Sunday will be emphatic enough to heal the wounds left by that defeat.
Speaking in the locker room on Thursday, Williams repeated a similar sentiment about the renewal of acquaintances with the Chiefs to the one he expressed after the 49ers' Week 6 win over the Seattle Seahawks.
"When you think about the reality of it, we can beat them by 100 [and] we're not popping champagne, confetti's not going to fall," Williams said on Thursday.
"It can never be an even or a payback situation, so why even carry that grudge?"
Nick Bosa's mindset seems to be markedly different.
Unlike Williams, Bosa has suffered two Super Bowl defeats to the Chiefs, made all the more frustrating by the level to which he has dominated Kansas City's opposing offensive tackles.
Bosa has racked up 24 pressures across the 49ers' two Super Bowl losses to Kansas City, yet he only has one sack, with claims of the Chiefs' offensive linemen using illegal means to prevent him getting home prevalent in the aftermath of Super Bowl 54 at the end of the 2019 season.
Whether those claims were justified or not is a matter of interpretation, but it's clear the mental scars from that defeat have left Bosa in need of a win over Kansas City that would serve as a form of catharsis.
"We have a long road ahead and it starts with the team that we haven't beat yet since I've been here," said Bosa after the victory over Seattle. "So definitely trying to get the monkey off our back with that one."
Bosa leaned more into the Williams mindset when asked about the matchup on Thursday, but he still conceded to watching the tape making him "a little emotional", echoing the thoughts of head coach Kyle Shanahan. Shanahan admitted on Wednesday that turning on the tape can "give a little post-traumatic stress".
That PTSD may have been exacerbated for Bosa as, for all his efforts in pressuring Patrick Mahomes, he was unable to make the crucial play in overtime on fourth-and-1 with the chance to clinch victory for the 49ers in Super Bowl 58.
Bosa, as was his responsibility, crashed down as Mahomes faked an inside handoff to Isiah Pacheco, the quarterback keeping the ball and running for eight yards as he kept what would prove to be a game-winning drive alive.
"That was tough, especially because we have calls that could negate that and they ran the zone read a few times and we just didn't find an answer for it," said Bosa on Thursday.
"I definitely thought he was gonna keep it but I've got to do my job, especially in that big moment like that, I can't go out of my job."
Bosa insists the 49ers have a plan for the zone read this time around, and they will undoubtedly be challenged with it by a Kansas City offense that has struggled to produce explosive plays this season.
But the most important contribution Bosa will likely make concerns that often futile pursuit of Mahomes, which could be made easier by Kansas City's problems at left tackle, where Wanya Morris has replaced rookie Kingsley Suamataia.
Yet Bosa has had the edge over the Chiefs' offensive line every time he has faced Kansas City, the problem has been finishing the job.
That is something he wasn't able to do against Seattle despite consistently derailing the Seahawks' offense with 14 total pressures.
Per Pro Football Focus, Bosa now has 35 pressures on the season, the second-most in the league, but only three of those have resulted in sacks.
Externally at least, Bosa isn't showing any frustration at that disappointing conversion rate.
Asked how he deals with the mental impact of being so dominant without the reward of sacks, Bosa replied: "Just staying the course and continuing to get better, which I think I've done.
"I affected the game a good amount last week, that's good for the team."
Bosa's impact on the 49ers' latest double-digit win over the Seahawks was obvious for all to see, but a sack tally that is not reflective of the disruption he has created this season will likely only have increased his desire to decisively affect the game against Kansas City.
Bosa consistently projects calm, but internally the frustration at his numbers this season and the absence of a reward for his supremely impressive efforts against the Chiefs must be high.
Few have done more to put the 49ers in position to consistently contend for Super Bowls than the 2022 Defensive Player of the Year. The stakes are nowhere near as high but, after coming up agonizingly short in February, Bosa could clearly use a cathartic performance in which his capacity for destruction finally leads to a victory over the Chiefs.
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