The NFL is down to its final four, and with the 49ers on the outside looking in, the rooting interest locally is as simple as A-B-C — Anybody But Chiefs.
Most of the country has been affected to a degree by “Chiefs fatigue” and would like nothing better than to watch Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans without the two-time defending champions.
It goes to a different level in the Bay Area. The 49ers led the Chiefs in two Super Bowls and lost them both in addition to one-sided regular-season losses at Levi’s Stadium in 2022 and 2024. Then there are the fans abandoned by the Raiders, who saw their last game in Oakland in 2019 but have long had a sports hatred for the Chiefs dating back to the days of the AFL.
But the 49ers finished 6-11 after being in the NFC title game four of the last five years. The Raiders are residing where they have for the better part of the last quarter century at 4-13, looking for a new coach and general manager.
Amidst the failure stand the Chiefs (16-2), who will playing in their seventh consecutive AFC title game after a 23-14 win Saturday over the Houston Texans at Arrowhead Stadium.
Kansas City will host Buffalo (15-4), a team it has sent home three times in the postseason since 2020, in hopes of becoming the first team in NFL history to win three straight Super Bowls. The Bills won 27-25 when Baltimore, which turned the ball over three times, couldn’t come up with a 2-point conversion with 1:33 to play.
If the Chiefs win, they’ll face either upstart Washington, a 45-31 winner over Detroit, or Philadelphia, which survived the Los Angeles Rams 28-22 Sunday in the snow.
Those faithful to the 49ers are still stinging from the failure at a “Three-peat” on Jan. 20, 1991, when a late Roger Craig fumble led to Matt Bahr’s game-winning 42-yard field goal at Candlestick Park. They’re galled at the thought of Patrick Mahomes winning one more game for his 17th win in the postseason, passing Joe Montana for No. 2 on the all-time list.
Following the 2019 season, there was 2-3 Jet Chip Wasp to Tyreek Hill and Jimmy Garoppolo missing Emmanuel Sanders in a 31-20 collapse. A year ago, the 49ers made just enough mistakes to fall 25-22 in overtime.
Raider Nation watched with disgust as the Chiefs, who have won eight of the last 10 meetings since the move to Las Vegas, won their latest ring on their home field and have a 20-game lead (75-55-2) in the all-time series including the postseason.
The Chiefs, who have won nine straight AFC West titles, win with such regularity there’s a natural inclination for everyone outside of Kansas City to dislike them. Coach Andy Reid has morphed from a Kyle Shanahan “can’t win the big one” coach to a 300-game winner along with Bill Belichick and George Halas.
You can’t go five minutes without seeing another “Jake from State Farm” commercial with Mahomes and Reid, followed by Mahomes hawking a cell phone plan. Travis Kelce has become a cottage industry. The hoopla surrounding Kelce and his girlfriend, Taylor Swift, adds another layer of obnoxiousness for most everyone outside the Chiefs’ universe. Swift’s guest Saturday in a private box? All-everything women’s basketball star Caitlin Clark.
Never has a midwest franchise looked more like Hollywood.
For all of Mahomes’ brilliance, his annoying penchant for manipulating NFL rules to draw defensive fouls is offensive. Plenty of people believe the Chiefs are teacher’s pet when it comes to officiating. They’re the Raiders in reverse, with officials holding their flags when it comes to red jerseys and throwing them at the opposition.
One big problem with everything that makes the Chiefs unlikeable — they’re really, really good.
The Chiefs sacked C.J. Stroud eight times and play a suffocating brand of defense. They haven’t turned the ball over in their last tight games, including the Houston win.
You hear all the time about how the 49ers were worn out from all their postseason activity, winning eight of 12 playoff games since 2019. During the same span, the Chiefs are 15-2. Doesn’t seem to be bothering them as much.
The Chiefs have changed their style if not their culture during all the winning. They scored 30 points just twice all season and are more likely to grit out a close win than score a blowout.
A look at the three teams remaining in the playoffs that could do the Bay Area a favor by ending the quest for a first-ever “Three-peat”:
Buffalo Bills (15-4)
Linebacker Terrel Bernard upstaged the quarterback duel between presumptive MVP Lamar Jackson of the Ravens and the likely runner-up Josh Allen. Bernard punched the ball loose from Mark Andrews, one of the most reliable tight ends in the league, when the Ravens looked to be on a roll and wearing the Bills down.
Then Andrews dropped a two-point conversion pass from Jackson that could have tied the game. Allen was error free and under control, with no turnovers, while Jackson turned it over on an interception and a lost fumble.
Philadelphia Eagles (16-3)
Has there ever been a free agent signing as impactful as Saquon Barkley? His touchdown runs of 62 and 78 yards and 205 yards on 26 carries enabled Philadelphia to withstand a Rams team that was playing as well as anyone over the last month.
Hard to imagine the 49ers playing as well as the Rams in those conditions.
If I’m Barkley ($12.583 million average per year), I’m not setting foot into training camp until getting a dollar more than Christian McCaffrey ($19 million).
Barkley aside, the Eagles’ offensive and defensive lined were the key to a resurgence after falling apart apart in 2023 following a blowout loss to the 49ers.
Washington Commanders (12-5)
The Commanders, thankfully shorn of the oppressive incompetence of former owner Daniel Snyder, were remade in a year by G.M. Adam Peters and coach Dan Quinn. Their biggest move was getting quarterback Jayden Daniels with the No. 2 pick in the NFL Draft. In two playoff wins, Washington’s offense has seven touchdowns, five field goal attempts, punted once and turned it over on downs three times. No turnovers.
If I’m running the Chicago Bears, I’m seriously considering offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury as head coach to see if he can make Caleb Williams into something approximating Daniels.
Detroit, the top seed, never could determine whether Daniels was going to run the ball, hand it to a back or throw it to a waiting receiver. Daniels’ ability to make the correct decision was uncanny. As for Detroit, the Lions learned being the No. 1 seed brings a target with it. Remember how the 49ers squeaked out playoff wins over the Packers and Lions a year ago after being so dominant all year? Now the Lions can relate.