49ers news: 3 quick takeaways from the 28-12 loss to the Chiefs

The San Francisco 49ers suffered another loss on Sunday, losing a game 28-18 to the Kansas City Chiefs, dropping them to 3-4 on the season.

It was a tough game for the 49ers, who stayed within striking distance for most of the game but couldn't muster nearly enough offensive production to keep up with the Chiefs, resulting in their first double-digit loss of the season.

Although the game had no impact on San Francisco's standing in the NFC, it was a big test for the 49ers as they had a chance to go on a run against the NFL's best team, but ultimately they did not capitalize on enough opportunities in the loss.

San Francisco is now 5-0 losing to Patrick Mahomes and has not beaten Kansas City since 2014.

Here are three quick takeaways from the 49ers' 28-18 loss to the Chiefs.

Brock Purdy fights

Sunday's game was a great opportunity not only for the 49ers to get a big win, but also for quarterback Brock Purdy to showcase his talent and lead his team against one of the NFL's toughest defenses.

Unfortunately, that wasn't the case as Purdy had major issues with Kansas City's defense. The quarterback threw for 212 yards and three interceptions and completed just 54.8 percent of his passes in the loss.

Purdy's problems began early in the game as the quarterback was unable to find a rhythm on offense as he had a number of off-target throws, including an ugly interception on the game's second drive where he forced a ball into triple coverage about game action.

The offense was completely out of control early on as there was no running game against Kansas City's strong front, which led to a series of short attacks in the first half. Each of San Francisco's first six drives lasted four plays or less before the 49ers finally got some momentum on the final drive of the half, which ended in a field goal.

It seemed like the 49ers would turn things around in the second half after a rushing touchdown, but Purdy threw his second interception on the next drive and missed on a comeback against Ronnie Bell, who went straight to the defense in what seemed like some sort of miscommunication worked.

Then, with the team advancing, Purdy threw an interception again, this time in the Kansas City end zone when he was drilled by a rusher who had beaten Colton McKivitz 1-on-1.

Overall, it was Purdy's worst performance of the year, as the quarterback was unable to achieve a level of consistency and some of his biggest mistakes were actually completions.

Purdy had a deep 41-yard pass to an open George Kittle down the sideline, but underthrew the tight end, allowing the cover safety to recover and make the tackle. Kittle could have scored a touchdown had he taken the lead, but the 49ers ultimately only scored a field goal on that drive.

Then Purdy connected with Jacob Cowing on another 41-yard pass in the fourth quarter on a deep ball that would have been an easy touchdown, but he underthrew the ball again and the wideout was tackled. Purdy would end the drive with an interception, resulting in zero points for the offense.

Ultimately, the quarterback made just one mistake too many in Sunday's terrible loss, as Purdy and head coach Kyle Shanahan were once again outpaced by Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo.

Missed opportunities

Missed opportunities were the name of the game in this loss and have actually been the biggest problem when the 49ers have faced the Chiefs in the past.

These problems occurred early in the game when the defense actually held firm and forced a turnover on downs when Kansas City attempted a fake punt at its own 45-yard line on the Chiefs' first drive.

Purdy followed that play with his first interception of the day with an ugly throw, giving the ball back to Kansas City in its own territory.

However, the defense held firm again on the ensuing drive when Kalia Davis made a big play, tipping a pass from Patrick Mahomes and intercepting the ball after Kansas City reached San Francisco's 30-yard line. But the 49ers quickly went to three-pointers and scored zero points on the defense's first two turnovers.

On the next offensive attack, the 49ers gained excellent field position at the 41-yard line and got a pass interference call on first down, but were unable to accomplish anything from there, forcing a 55-yard field goal from Anders Carlson.

A hard drop by Brandon Aiyuk on third down stalled San Francisco's next drive, and the underthrow to George Kittle on the final drive of the half resulted in a field goal instead of a touchdown. That's all in the first half, where the 49ers only scored six points despite a strong performance from their defense.

In the second half, San Francisco actually scored a touchdown after the interception of Kansas City's opening drive, but missed the extra point, giving the Chiefs a two-point lead at 14-12.

Then the two interceptions came deep in Kansas City territory, with Brock Purdy being picked off at the Chiefs' 21-yard line and in the end zone, squandering two scoring opportunities.

All of these chances ultimately killed San Francisco's chances of winning, as the Chiefs were able to capitalize on more chances in the 28-18 win. Against such a strong team, so many mistakes simply couldn't happen.

The defense is impressive

After the 28-18 loss, much of the discussion will revolve around the offense, and rightly so after Sunday's tough performance.

But the defense seemingly did enough to help the 49ers win before faltering at the end, and they shouldn't take the brunt of the blame for this game.

San Francisco committed three different turnovers on Sunday but scored just seven points on all chances, while Kansas City scored touchdowns after its final two interceptions.

The Chiefs had 14 points in the first half but were constantly on the field, while the second touchdown drive was only 30 yards due to a special teams error that gave Kansas City excellent field position on a punt return.

Then the defense gave the offense a ton of chances in the second half, with Deommodore Lenoir forcing an interception to end a drive while Charvarius Ward managed an impressive pass split to force a three-pointer on the game's first two possessions of the second half.

But after that, they started to falter with 12- and 13-play touchdown drives, with Patrick Mahomes making just enough plays on third downs to sustain the drives and pull away from the 49ers.

However, the defense did its part in this game, and it wasn't nearly the reason San Francisco lost in a difficult game for the team.