The San Francisco 49ers’ loss to the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday was perfectly summed up by one embarrassing onside kick.
The 49ers trailed the Chiefs 28-12 late in the fourth quarter at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif. San Francisco kept its hopes alive by scoring a touchdown with just over a minute left but failed to convert on its two-point try.
With the game all but decided, the 49ers opted to go for an onside kick with 1:08 left on the game clock. To say that Niners kicker Mitch Wishnowsky muffed the kick would be the understatement of the season.
Pretty cool of the 49ers to let a fan come and try the onside kick pic.twitter.com/XR3cVg8zrC
— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) October 20, 2024
Wishnowsky squibbed the kick a measly four yards and the ball was declared dead at the 49ers’ 39-yard line. Two kneel-downs from Patrick Mahomes sealed the 28-18 win for the Chiefs.
In all fairness to Wishnowsky, he was far from the biggest underperformer in the Super Bowl 58 rematch. 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy had arguably the worst game of his career in the Week 7 loss. The 24-year-old QB went 17/31 with 3 interceptions and was reportedly chewed out by 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan after the game.
Kyle Shanahan just lectured Brock Purdy for five minutes at his locker. Purdy listened and said nothing. Never seen anything like it.
— Grant Cohn (@grantcohn) October 20, 2024
The 49ers came into the 2024 season as one of the favorites to emerge out of the NFC. However, San Francisco has yet to win back-to-back games this season and has a mediocre 3-4 record heading into Week 8.
As if the loss Sunday was not bad enough, one of the 49ers’ top offensive weapons also suffered a potentially season-ending injury in the contest.
