Kansas City At San Francisco: 5 Things To Know

Sunday's game of The 49ers vs. the Chiefs looks to be a pretty even match up. Both teams are looking for thier third win, and last year The 49ers won by only two points, 15-13. The following are five things to now before you watch the game.

1. Alex Smith's recent knowledge of 49ers plays

Having been so recently with the 49ers, Alex Smith still has good knowledge of 49er plays, which may be one of the areas in which he has one up on Kaepernick. Both QBs are very physical, with similar passer ratings; Kaepernick at 91.2 and Smith at 94.2. We'll have to wait and see if Smith's knowledge of the team helps him to know how to handle the defense.

2. 8th highest run plays vs 2nd best defense

One statistic that makes this an interesting match up is that the Chiefs are the 8th highest in the NFL for calling run plays, and the 49ers have the second best defense in the NFL. The question is, will the Chiefs try to change things up to make the 49ers defense work, or will they stick with the run plays?

3. Protect the ball

In last weeks game of The Chiefs vs Denver, the Chiefs didn't have any problems protecting the ball. An important factor to consider when going up against guys like Justin Smith.

4. Kaepernick Rush

One thing The Chiefs should have on the forefront of thier minds is that currently Colin Kaepernick is the leading QB rusher with 33 rushes and 187 yards. Stopping Kaepernick from running should be one of the Chiefs highest priorities.

5. Extending the play

As seen in times past, Kaepernick has the ability to extend the play and make things happen. In last weeks' game against The Eagles, Kaepernick was able to stay in the pocket for a significant amount of time, which was enough to give Frank Gore room to get wide open and make a touchdown. For the Chiefs to be successful they'll have to keep Kaepernick from getting too much time.