49ers take on Chiefs in rare SB rematch
THE San Francisco 49ers finally climbed back up the playoff mountain to return to the Super Bowl only to find a familiar foe waiting for them.
When the Niners get a second shot at a Super Bowl against the Kansas City Chiefs, it will be a rare title game rematch in this short of a span.
“It’s perfect,” 49ers defensive end Nick Bosa said about getting a second shot to knock off Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs in the past five seasons.
“They’re as great an organization, coach, quarterback as there is. And they were down, not looking great this year either, and they’re playing their best ball now. So it’s going to be a big challenge.”
There have only been eight Super Bowl rematches in the previous 57 games, with just three happening in a five-year span before this rematch. The winners of those three rematches were the teams that won the first meeting.
There will be more than a dozen players scheduled to appear in this game — including several stars on both teams — after also playing in the game won by Kansas City, 31-20, in Miami following the 2019 season.
The Chiefs rallied from 10 points down in the fourth quarter to win that game and earn the first of two Super Bowl titles with Mahomes and coach Andy Reid at the helm. Kansas City also lost another and will be the third team to reach the championship game in four out of five seasons.
“We already have a pretty good idea how it’s going to look,” San Francisco coach Kyle Shanahan said. “They’ve been doing it a while. Since we met them in ‘19, [it] seems like they’ve been there every year since. We have been trying really hard to get back to this moment.”
Both teams have eight players on the active roster who played for them in the first meeting with Bosa joined by Deebo Samuel, George Kittle, Fred Warner, Dre Greenlaw, Arik Armstead, Kyle Juszczyk and Mitch Wishnowsky.
Mahomes will be joined by Travis Kelce, Chris Jones, Harrison Butker, Mecole Hardman, James Winchester, Nick Allegretti and Blake Bell.
San Francisco also has cornerback Charvarius Ward, who was on the Chiefs team four years ago that beat the Niners, and injured tight end Ross Dwelley, who is on season-ending injured reserve (IR).
The Chiefs have a former Niners player from that game in receiver Richie Hames, along with defensive lineman Derrick Nnadi on IR, and Austin Reiter and Mike Pennel on the practice squad.