SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — San Francisco 49ers receiver Brandon Aiyuk has had the guaranteed money in his contract for next season voided after failing to participate in meetings and other team activities.
A person familiar with the move confirmed that the team earlier this year voided the more than $26 million that Aiyuk was supposed to be guaranteed in 2026 under the four-year, $120 million extension he signed last year. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the team made no announcement.
The Athletic first reported the development.
Aiyuk has been out all season recovering from knee surgery last year and there is no timeline for when he could return. Coach Kyle Shanahan said over the summer that Aiyuk could be back on the practice field by early November, but he has remained on the physically unable to perform list.
The move to void the guaranteed money would allow the Niners to cut Aiyuk next year and only carry about $29.5 million of dead money charges on the salary cap for bonuses already paid. They could split that over two years.
Aiyuk signed the lucrative extension last summer following a lengthy contract hold-in that kept him out of training camp. He was coming off a 2023 season when he had 75 catches for 1,342 yards and seven TDs and was a second-team All-Pro.
Aiyuk had only 25 catches for 374 yards in seven games last season before getting injured.
The 27-year-old Aiyuk has 294 career catches for 4,305 yards and 25 TDs since being drafted in the first round in 2020.
The San Francisco 49ers continue to be crushed by injuries to key players, and on Sunday against the Houston Texans, they lost a couple more contributors, including starting Will linebacker Dee Winters, who had a knee ailment.
They lost the game, 26-15, and that final score doesn’t indicate how lopsided the contest was in some ways. The Niners only mustered 223 yards of total offense and had virtually no running attack, while Houston put together 475 total offensive yards. Houston quarterback C.J. Stroud completed 30 of his 39 passing attempts and ended up with 318 passing yards and two touchdown passes.
Afterward, Niners coach Kyle Shanahan was asked if this loss, which dropped their record to 5-3, makes a trade more likely.
“Nothing changes anything,” Shanahan said, per 49ers Webzone. “It has to do with what’s available out there, and does it help us this year, does it help us next year. Usually, as things get closer, you get a little more idea on who’s real and who’s not, and we’ll evaluate that for the short term and long term.”
With all the injuries the 49ers have had to deal with this year, one would think that some type of trade will need to be consummated before the Nov. 4 trade deadline. Defensive end Nick Bosa and middle linebacker Fred Warner are out for the year with a torn ACL and ankle injury, respectively, and Bryce Huff, their other starting DE, is currently sidelined with a hamstring ailment.
The team has been linked to players such as Cincinnati Bengals edge rusher Trey Hendrickson, who would be a massive get for any team. He was out of action Sunday against the New York Jets due to a hip injury, but he has put up four sacks through six games this season. He led the NFL last season with 17.5 sacks.
One has to wonder how sustainable San Francisco’s solid 5-3 start is, given how depleted its forces are. Last year, the team started 5-4 while being hit by another massive string of key injuries, only to lose seven of its final eight games and miss the playoffs.
The 49ers will head to Bergen County to play the New York Giants, who are one of the NFL’s worst defensive teams, next Sunday before returning home to host the Los Angeles Rams on Nov. 9.
The San Francisco 49ers are one of the most banged up teams in the entire NFL, but head coach Kyle Shanahan isn’t interested in excuses.
Despite a slew of health problems severely impacting some of the most prominent players on both sides of the ball, including quarterback Brock Purdy, tight end George Kittle, edge-rusher Nick Bosa and linebacker Fred Warner, San Francisco managed to enter Week 8 with a 5-2 record and a chance to move to six wins ahead of the mid-season point with a road victory over the Houston Texans.
Instead, Houston’s top-ranked defense dominated the 49ers throughout the game, winning 26-15. In the aftermath of the loss, Shanahan called out his team and demanded a strong response over the coming week ahead of San Francisco’s trip to the Big Apple to take on the New York Giants.
“They kicked our [expletive],” Shanahan said, per David Lombardi of The San Francisco Standard. “We’ve got to take it like men and come back — hopefully a little pissed off — and go to work and play better next week. The first half was unacceptable and the second half wasn’t much better.”
Lombardi pointed out that after the double-digit defeat on Sunday, the 49ers (5-3) actually have a negative point differential (-4) through eight games. While not a guarantee, that figure indicates that a regression in the win/loss column over the second half of the year is likely unless the team can perform better.
However, with as many injuries as San Francisco is dealing with, the best way to chase improvement is by adding healthy players via the trade market.
The 49ers have until Nov. 4 to do so and should be looking hardest at a pass-rusher who can help create splash plays on defense. Even absent sacks that create yardage losses or contribute to turnovers, pressure on opposing QBs helps the secondary by cutting down on the time pass-catchers have to develop their routes.
Some players potentially on the market are Jaelan Phillips of the Miami Dolphins and Jermaine Johnson of the New York Jets. It is also possible that Trey Hendrickson of the Cincinnati Bengals could be available if the team loses to the Chicago Bears next week and falls to 3-6 ahead of the trade deadline.
SANTA CLARA – The 49ers were mostly inert during free agency this offseason, choosing instead to focus on contract extensions with franchise cornerstones Brock Purdy, Fred Warner and George Kittle, while at the same time shedding salary to get younger following a 6-11 season.
It wasn’t looked upon favorably by a fan base hoping for some star power. There was one exception, and it was a big one in a physical sense. Luke Farrell is not big in terms of name recognition, but he plays big.
Almost lost in the whirlwind opening days of free agency was the team quickly reaching an agreement with tight end Luke Farrell. While throwing others overboard – allowing their own free agents to leave, as well as releasing some under contract – the 49ers extended a hand to Farrell, a 27-year-old four-year veteran with Jacksonville who received a three-year contract with $11 million guaranteed and a maximum value of $20.25 million.
Tight end Luke Farrell was the first and one of the few players the 49ers snapped up when free agency began in 2025. Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group
It was a pretty good chunk of change for a team looking to reduce payroll, especially with the presence of a Hall of Fame candidate in Kittle already on the roster and still in his prime.
“I’ve heard from guys that have been there,” Farrell said of former Jaguars teammates who once played for the 49ers. “I like how they operate and the opportunity to play in this offense with these coaches and players.”
Since he arrived in 2017, the year Kittle was drafted, 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan has cycled through eight more tight ends – Garrett Celek, Logan Paulsen, Ross Dwelley (he left and came back last year), Levine Toilolo, Jordan Reed, Tyler Kroft, Eric Saubert and Brayden Williams.
None received the kind of financial compensation afforded to Farrell.
“I think having a No. 2 tight end in the NFL is huge,” Shanahan said. “Usually, there’s one guy who excels in the pass game and one guy who excels in the run game.”
Farrell, at 6-foot-5, 250 pounds, has just 36 career receptions and has yet to score his first NFL touchdown. But he’s a people mover who operates almost as an extra tackle. Rather than rely solely on angles and leverage, Farrell can actually move the mountains that face him as edge setters or beasts coming on stunts from the interior.
Tight end Luke Farrell, right, works with Isaac Alarcon during a 49ers blocking drill at the club facility in Santa Clara. Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group
“Luke, his (game) tape was very, very impressive,” offensive line coach and run game coordinator Chris Foerster said. “He literally has an impact on defensive ends. When he blocks or hits one, there’s movement. You see things with him that you don’t see in a lot of tight ends.”
The presence of Farrell, a fifth-round pick out of Ohio State in 2021, will put Kittle in the passing game more often as a receiver, either flexed or put in motion, while he takes care of a big percentage of the dirty work along the line of scrimmage.
“I take a lot of pride in it,” Farrell said. “Since I was in college, I’ve just really bought into the team mindset and whatever I can do to help propel the offense forward and the team forward and that’s what my role has been. Also, all I can do on special teams. It’s allowed me to have the career I’ve had so far, and I have a lot of gratitude for it.”
The attention paid to Kittle could result in Farrell’s first NFL touchdown as well as increased opportunities for Brock Purdy for a reliable set of hands as a receiver.
“He’s got unexplored talent in the passing game,” tight ends coach Brian Fleury said.
Which is fine by Farrell.
“I’m always in the mindset of wherever they need me, I’m going to be there,” Farrell said. “I’m going to be where I’m supposed to be, when I’m supposed to be there, and that’s as a receiver, too.
Kittle, like Farrell, was a fifth-round draft pick. He was also from a Big Ten school, Iowa, and has morphed from unassuming rookie with close-cropped hair to big-time, big-haired personality on a national scale.
Rashod Berry #13 of the Ohio State Buckeyes and Luke Farrell #89 of the Ohio State Buckeyes celebrate after a touchdown during the first half in the Rose Bowl Game presented by Northwestern Mutual at the Rose Bowl on January 1, 2019 in Pasadena, California. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)
Farrell carries with him the same mentality he had at Ohio State, where he was a player simply trying to make a roster at the outset. He didn’t see himself as an NFL player. An excellent student, Farrell’s long-term goal for athletics was staying involved as a physical therapist.
“I was a developmental guy at Ohio State, redshirted, and really didn’t get any significant time until my third year,” Farrell said. “Then it was like, `OK, this is a real possibility.’ Once it became possible, I just wanted to keep doing what I was doing and perform the role they wanted me in. When you have success on a team like that, you’re going to get the exposure.”
Farrell cuts an impressive figure among the position group, and Kittle is excited to see what he brings in terms of physicality.
“I like that he’s a big dude. I’m a huge fan of that,” Kittle said. “He’s got great tape. He’s excited to be here, and I’m excited to get to work with him, too. He’s an experienced guy and has played a lot of reps, so it’s not like you’re teaching a rookie.”
During the offseason, Farrell attended Tight End University in Nashville, the yearly summit for the position hosted by Kittle and fellow Pro Bowl tight ends Travis Kelce and Greg Olsen. Before that, Farrell’s connection to Kittle came in a Zoom meeting during the COVID pandemic.
“He was on because his dad had a connection with Kevin Wilson, who was our tight ends coach at the time. They both coached at Oklahoma,” Farrell said. “George had some down time, and we were just studying a lot of ball and were trying to pick up any skills we could just from film study.
“He hopped on with us, told us what he was about, gave us some of his experience and wisdom, having a handful of years in. (When I signed with the 49ers), he reached out right away and welcomed me.”
San Francisco 49ers tight end Luke Farrell (89) makes a catch next to Las Vegas Raiders cornerback Darien Porter (26) during the first half of a preseason NFL football game Saturday, Aug. 16, 2025, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Farrell joins the 49ers, a Super Bowl contender, from a Jaguars team that went 4-13 last season after twice going 9-8. In Farrell’s rookie year, they were 3-14, so he knows what a losing locker room can feel like.
The 49ers, Farrell believes, don’t have the vibe of a team that went 6-11 a year ago.
“If you didn’t know what happened last year, you’d have no idea of their record,” Farrell said. “That’s a testament to the people in the building, and their resiliency and how professional they are. You don’t dwell on the past when you’re looking forward to the season.”
Typically, Klint Kubiak talks with his younger brother, Klay, quite a bit.
Just not this week.
Klint is in the midst of preparing for his first game as offensive coordinator for the Seattle Seahawks. Klay has the same job with the San Francisco 49ers and is on the verge of his first game as an NFL coordinator.
Conveniently for the Kubiaks, their teams open the season by playing each other Sunday at Lumen Field.
“It’s a really cool thing,” Klay said Thursday. “It’s a cool experience, it’s pretty rare, so we treasure them for sure, but it’s a little awkward during the week, but it’ll be fun on Sunday.”
The two coached against one another last preseason, when Klint was the New Orleans Saints’ offensive coordinator and Klay a passing game specialist for the 49ers. Otherwise, there haven’t been many head-to-head battles for the brothers dating back to childhood.
Football was critical to the Kubiaks starting in childhood. Each played for Colorado State — Klint was a safety and Klay a quarterback — and their father, Gary, won a Super Bowl as head coach of the Denver Broncos as a part of a coaching career that spanned four decades.
Klint’s desire to follow in his father’s footsteps and become an NFL coach was something that built up over time.
“I think all of us dream of playing forever, when you play, and eventually that day ends and you start thinking of what’s next,” Klint said. “I was fortunate to get a start with Mike Sherman at Texas A&M. Grateful for him, moving me from defense to offense and getting me started there.”
Klint also credited his mother, Rhonda, for emphasizing that there was more to life than football.
“It’s about family, it’s about going to school, it’s about getting an education,” Klint said, “and I’m lucky to have that in my life.”
Thankfully for the Kubiaks’ parents, they don’t have to worry about picking sides since their kids won’t be scheming against one another. Klint sought to downplay the significance of Sunday’s meeting, noting that it’s just one of 17 regular-season games.
But given how the communication between the brothers has dried up, it’s clearly anything but another week.
“We’re giving each other our space,” Klay said, “and look forward to seeing him on Sunday.”
Observers can expect to see similarities in the teams’ offensive schemes. San Francisco coach Kyle Shanahan is familiar with Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold from their shared season in 2023 — when Klint was the 49ers’ passing game coordinator.
The way Shanahan sees it, there are bound to be similarities in how the 49ers and Seahawks operate on offense.
“It’s always different how you adjust to your players, but I know they’re going to be a balanced team that wants to put Sam in some good situations and give that ball to their good running backs,” Shanahan said. “Then it usually comes down to third down, so it’s real similar to us. There’s window dressing that’s different, but the way that they want a game to go, I think it’s going to be very similar to how we want it to go.”
The NFC West rivals tend to play close games, with or without the sibling rivalry.
“It’s interesting that we’re on the same sides of the ball, so we’re really not competing against each other,” Klay said. “That’s for (defensive coordinator Robert) Saleh to figure out. And same for him.”
The emotional lift of Ricky Pearsall’s return to the field 50 days after he was shot lasted less than a half. Then the San Francisco 49ers had to deal with some more bad news at receiver.
Brandon Aiyuk went down with a right knee injury in Sunday’s 28-18 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs that coach Kyle Shanahan fears is a season-ending ACL tear.
Shanahan said the team was waiting for confirmation from an MRI scheduled for Monday, but the expectation is that Aiyuk will miss the rest of the season in the latest injury blow to a San Francisco team already missing All-Pro running back Christian McCaffrey and other key players.
“I know a lot of teams deal with that,” Shanahan said about the spate of injuries. “Not every team, but we’re dealing with it hard right now. It got worse today. It’s tough.”
Aiyuk got hurt late in the first half when was hit on the knee after making a catch in the red zone. He stayed down for a few minutes before being carted to the locker room and was quickly ruled out for the rest of the game.
Aiyuk, who signed a $120 million, four-year extension in late August following a lengthy contract “hold in,” has 25 catches for 374 yards this season. He was a second-team All-Pro last season when he had 1,342 yards receiving.
San Francisco was already without two of its other top receivers with Jauan Jennings sidelined by a hip injury that is not expected to be long-term and Deebo Samuel dealing with an illness that limited him to four snaps against Kansas City.
That put more responsibility on the plate of Pearsall, who was activated from the non-football injury list on Saturday. Pearsall came in for his first play on San Francisco’s opening drive and caught his first career pass late in the second quarter. He finished with three catches for 21 yards.
“He was going to get eased in a little today,” Shanahan said. “That changed a little bit with Deebo going out and it changed a bunch with Aiyuk going out. So he had to do more than we expected today and I was proud of him for handling it. It’s great to have him back.”
Pearsall returned to practice this past Monday for the first time since he was shot in the chest in San Francisco’s Union Square area on Aug. 31. He was hospitalized overnight but avoided damage to any organs and nerves and was back working out at the team facility the following week.
Pearsall, who was drafted in the first round in April, missed the majority of training camp practices with injuries to his hamstring and shoulder but was on track to be ready for the opener before he was shot.
He began his college career at Arizona State and transferred to Florida for his final two seasons. He had 65 catches for 965 yards and four touchdowns last season for the Gators and finished his college career with 159 catches for 2,420 yards and 14 TDs.
Kyle Shanahan went back to his comfort zone to find a defensive coordinator to replace Steve Wilks, but it apparently isn’t fully a one-man job.
Nick Sorensen, who joined the 49ers’ staff as a defensive assistant in 2022 and was the passing game/nickel defense coach in 2023, will become the team’s third defensive coordinator in four years, according to ESPN.
In a surprising twist, Shanahan is also hiring former Los Angeles Chargers coach Brandon Staley to help the defensive staff and presumably take on the title of Assistant Head Coach, which Anthony Lynn held (also after his stint as Chargers’ coach; Lynn left last month to become the Commanders’ running backs coach).
Sorensen, 45, like predecessors Robert Saleh (2017-20) and DeMeco Ryans (2021-22) had a working relationship with Shanahan lessening the likelihood he wouldn’t carry out the wishes of the head coach. Saleh worked with Shanahan on the staff of the Houston Texans from 2006-07 and Ryans joined the 49ers’ staff as a defensive assistant in 2017 before moving on to linebackers and then defensive coordinator.
Both coaches left for head coaching jobs, Saleh to the New York Jets in 2021 and Ryans to the Houston Texans in 2023.
Wilks, who had never worked with Shanahan before being hired on Feb. 7, 2023, was fired three days after the 49ers lost 25-22 to the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LVIII in Las Vegas.
Wilks has been characterized as a scapegoat for the 49ers not winning a championship. It’s also clear Shanahan was never comfortable with his choice of schemes during the 49ers’ 12-5 season in which they were susceptible to the run late in the season and had poor first-half performances in playoff wins over Green Bay and Detroit en route to the NFC Championship.
Included in the regular season was a zero blitz call that resulted in a Minnesota touchdown that Shanahan publicly criticized in the aftermath. Wilks, who coached from the coaches’ booth, was summoned to the sideline during the 49ers sideline after the bye week and coached there for the rest of the season. In the Super Bowl, Shanahan abruptly called a timeout in overtime because he wasn’t comfortable with one of Wilks’ defensive calls.
Despite finishing third in points allowed, the 49ers never seemed to find a defensive personality, vacillating from an aggressive blitzing team with elements of man-to-man to one that relies on front-four pressure and top-down zone defense in the secondary.
Before joining the 49ers, Sorensen was special teams coordinator for the Jacksonville Jaguars. He also worked on Pete Carroll’s staff with the Seattle Seahawks from 2013 through 2020 as an assistant special teams coach, an assistant defensive backs coach and secondary coach.
The Chargers fired Staley on Dec. 15, the day after they lost 63-21 to the Las Vegas Raiders in a game they trailed 42-0 at halftime.
Presumably, Staley’s firing after going 24-24 as a head coach with the Chargers had nothing to do with his defensive acumen. He was a defensive coordinator for just one season in 2020 with the Los Angeles Rams under Sean McVay before getting the Chargers’ job.
Although Staley has run a 3-4 defense, he’ll run the defense to Shanahan’s specification with the requirement of getting the most out of edge rusher Nick Bosa, who prefers to operate primarily in a 4-3. Any formulation of defensive scheme will include the council of Kris Kocurek, the 49ers’ defensive line coach who has said on previous occasions he would prefer to work with players “with their hand in the ground” along the point of attack.
Staley learned as an NFL defensive coach under Vic Fangio, the former 49ers’ defensive coordinator under Jim Harbaugh and some Shanahan respects for advice and counsel.
McVay and Shanahan, having come up together under Kyle’s father Mike Shanahan in Washington, are like-minded in terms of scheme on both sides of the ball. Under Staley, the 2020 Rams were 10-6, finished second in the NFC West and led the NFL in scoring defense, giving up 18.5 points per game.
Also interviewed the past week were a trio of defensive backs coaches: Daniel Bullocks (49ers), Dave Merritt (Chiefs), and Gerald Alexander (Raiders).
Now begins the long off-season of analyzing what the team needs to do next year — so that the 49ers are able to hold up a Super Bowl trophy for the first time in 30 years.
Cherry Creek did Valor Christian dirty. A game that should’ve been in Christian McCaffrey’s hands in the third quarter wound up in Patrick Mahomes’ mitts during overtime.
And let’s be frank: It’s because McCaffrey, the 49ers star and former Valor bell cow, touched the ball 14 times in the first half and just three times in the third quarter, a stretch that helped Mahomes and Patriots West get up off the mat.
It wasn’t the same script as the one that burned young Shanahan as badly as when he was offensive coordinator with the Falcons — a 28-3 Super Bowl lead turned, inexplicably, into another Tom Brady triumph.
But the beats felt eerily close. Little Shanny responded to a touchdown cushion and a Mahomes interception coming out of halftime with six straight pass plays … which amassed negative-2 net yards. For a painful, fleeting moment, Kyle forgot he had the best tailback in the free world. He let Mahomes hang around too long.
We already know how much the football gods love No. 15. Why tease or tempt them? Look at Kansas City’s postseason path. Miami at home? Minus-27 wind chill. Buffalo on the road? Wide right. Baltimore on the road? Lamar Jackson forgot he was Lamar and tied himself up in knots trying to be Mahomes.
With 2:32 left in the third stanza, those gods finally struck. A Chiefs punt scraped the heel of Niners special-teamer Darrell Luter Jr. and eventually was recovered by KC’s Jaylen Watson at the San Fran 16.
Never one to refuse a gift, Mahomes pounced on the very next play, finding a wide-open Marquez Valdes-Scantling in the front of the end zone for an easy score and the Chiefs’ first lead of the evening, 12-10.
San Fran, meanwhile, had opened with stanza with the rock at the KC 44, thanks to a clutch pick. Nothing. Shanahan got it back at the Niners 36. Still nada.
This after Little Shanny and the Niners had ceded the halftime stage to Usher nursing a 10-3 lead — a scoreline that flattered the defending champs.
Midway through the second quarter, the Chiefs’ ball of championship steel wool appeared to be unraveling, one strand at a time. CBS cameras showed Travis Kelce running over to coach Andy Reid, like a man possessed, and shoving his longtime coach in his side, raging and barking as if Captain Cheeseburger had just name-dropped one of Taylor Swift’s ex-paramours.
Despite both teams’ sloppy starts, Shanahan was at least wise enough not to forget what he had in the backfield — McCaffrey touched the ball 14 times those first two quarters, nine of them carries.
But the sweetest came on what looked, at first, like a broken play salvaged by speed and insanity. Slowed down, though, it became apparent that The Son of The Mastermind is indeed a chip off the old zone block.
With 4:23 left until halftime, Niners wideout Jauan Jennings caught a lateral in the left flat, eyes upfield. Only he shifted quickly to his right, flicking a pass, this one a wounded duck, in the direction of McCaffrey. The Denver native had to spring to snare the ball in mid-flight, building up a head of steam the way Popeye does after wolfing down a can of spinach.
Valor Christian’s finest, sure enough, proved strong to the finish. With at least two Niners blockers obstructing traffic in the right flat, McCaffrey turned what looked like sheer insanity into a 21-yard touchdown sprint and a 9-0 cushion.
Kyle learned his lessons well. But the son of Mike, who coached the Broncos to back-to-back championships, also knew when to fold ’em on this stage. When to hold ’em. When to walk away. And, most importantly, when to run.
LAS VEGAS — The San Francisco 49ers wrapped their week of Super Bowl LVIII prep with a final walkthrough at UNLV’s Fertitta Football Complex on Saturday.
Shortly after noon, the team’s buses pulled up to the complex for the roughly one-hour walkthrough to review their game openers and certain situations.
After a 10-minute warmup period, the 49ers spent 40 minutes with the offense running through plays on the far end of one of the practice fields, and the defense working at the opposite end.
The 49ers closed with a brief special teams period, then headed back to the buses.
“Our guys are ready to go,” Coach Kyle Shanahan said. “They’re relaxed. They’ll relax a little this afternoon, have our last meetings tonight and we’ll be ready to go.”
The 49ers did not activate defensive tackle Kalia Davis from injured reserve, so he has been ruled out for Sunday’s game. They also elevated defensive linemen Alex Barrett and T.Y. McGill from the practice squad.
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Nicki Jhabvala and Pro Football Writers of America
SANTA CLARA, Calif. — The most precarious lead in the NFL these days might be a double-digit one over Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs.
Mahomes engineered his 12th comeback from a deficit of at least 10 points in the past four seasons on Sunday when the Chiefs rallied for a 44-23 victory over the San Francisco 49ers after falling behind 10-0 in the first quarter.
The Chiefs have won 12 of 17 games since the start of 2019 with Mahomes at quarterback after falling behind by at least 10 points, including all three games in the 2019 postseason.
Kansas City is just as likely to win by double-digits after facing the early deficit like they did against the Niners as the Chiefs are to lose the game.
It’s a far cry from the rest of the NFL. While the Chiefs have a .706 winning percentage in these scenarios, the rest of the league has a mark of just .154. No other QB who has faced at least three double-digit deficits has won even half, with Drew Brees’ 6-7 mark the second best.
In fact, the only other QB besides Mahomes to win more than 70% of his starts since 2019 is Aaron Rodgers, who has a .733 winning percentage in all starts.
Mahomes reached a few more milestones on Sunday when he won for the 55th time, tying Hall of Famer Ken Stabler for the most in a QB’s first 70 starts in the Super Bowl era. Otto Graham is the only quarterback in NFL history with more with 56.
Mahomes also had his eighth career game with at least 400 yards passing and at least three TDs. Only Brees (12), Peyton Manning (11), Dan Marino (11) and Tom Brady (8) have more. Those QBs have all started at least 242 games, while Mahomes has only 70.
STRUGGLING STARS
Two of the most accomplished quarterbacks in NFL history are off to rough starts with Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers both at 3-4 after back-to-back losses.
This marked the second time that Brady and Rodgers both lost in consecutive weeks with the only other coming in the final two weeks of the 2015 season.
Rodgers has a losing record through seven games for the first time as a starter and Brady’s only previous losing record at this juncture came in 2002 — the only healthy season that he failed to make the playoffs.
Their 19 combined TD passes are their fewest at this point in a season when both started, the 19.4 points per game average for their teams are more than six points lower than the previous low of 26 points per game through seven games in 2013, and their 93.7 passer rating is the lowest at this point since 2013 when it was 90.6.
COMEBACK KIDS
The surprising New York Giants had their fifth second-half comeback of the season so far, rallying for a 23-17 win over Jacksonville to improve to 6-1.
The Giants joined the 2015 Falcons and 2007 Titans as the only teams to win at least five of their first seven games after trailing in the second half.
New York also became the first team since the 2016 Lions to win at least four of their first seven games when trailing in the fourth quarter.
The four wins so far this season for the Giants when trailing in the fourth quarter are more than they had in the previous five seasons combined when they went 3-58 in games they trailed in the fourth quarter.
The Giants’ success has helped the NFC East post a 20-7 (.741) combined record for the best for any division through seven weeks since the merger. The previous best winning percentage was .714 for the 1984 AFC West.
ROOKIE WATCH
Pittsburgh rookie quarterback Kenny Pickett is off to a rough start to his career.
Pickett has thrown seven interceptions and only two touchdown passes in his first four career games. The only other QB since 1990 with at least seven interceptions and two or fewer TD passes in his first four games was Ryan Leaf, who had eight interceptions and one TD pass in his first four games in 1998.
FAMILY AFFAIR
The trade that sent Christian McCaffrey to the San Francisco 49ers linked the McCaffrey and Shanahan families once again.
When McCaffrey took the field Sunday for coach Kyle Shanahan’s 49ers it marked the fourth instance of a father-son duo coaching a father-son duo in NFL history, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
Christian’s older brother, Max, already played for Kyle Shanahan in 2018 after their father, Ed, played for Mike Shanahan from 1995-03 in Denver
The other times it happened came with coaches Bum and Wade Phillips. Rob Carpenter played for Bum Phillips and Bobby Carpenter playing for Wade Phillips, while Ted Washington Sr. played for Bum Phillips and Ted Washington Jr. played for Wade Phillips.
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NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport was the first to report Saturday evening that McCaffrey will be on the field for San Francisco’s Week 7 outing against the Kansas City Chiefs Sunday afternoon at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara.
It was not known whether McCaffrey would debut in Week 7 over wait until San Francisco took on the defending champion Los Angeles Rams in Southern California next Sunday.
Apparently, San Francisco’s brass heeded his call to play in front of the running back’s new home crowd on Sunday. McCaffrey had been campaigning to play despite not getting a full practice in with the 49ers following the trade being made official Thursday night.
How The San Francisco 49ers Plan To Use Christian McCaffrey On Sunday
The 49ers have a package of plays planned for McCaffrey in his debut, sources confirmed. It remains to be seen exactly how many plays McCaffrey will be on the field. But it’s not expected to top 25 or 30.
The fact that McCaffrey has not had a ton of time to learn San Francisco’s playbook complicates things a bit further. But he’s a veteran with a wealth of experience in outside zone-blocking schemes. That should make this a fluid transition from Carolina.
Right now, Jeff Wilson will start and be the featured back in a game San Francisco must win to avoid an ugly 3-4 start to the season. As for McCaffrey, he’s more than excited to be returning him to the Bay Area.
McCaffrey’s father, Ed, played under Shanahan’s father, Mike, with the Denver Broncos from 1995-2003. The older McCaffrey was also a member of the 49ers’ Super Bowl winning team when Shanahan was the offensive coordinator back in 1994. As for Kyle Shanahan, he actually babysat McCaffrey when the running back was a youngster.
The Bay Area ties do not end there. McCaffrey starred for Stanford from 2014-16, finishing second in the Heisman voting as a sophomore in 2015.
McCaffrey, 26, heads to the 49ers after having put up 670 total yards and three touchdowns in six games with the Panthers. From 2018-19, he recorded a combined 4,357 yards with 43 touchdowns while catching a resounding 223 passes.
San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey will make his debut with the team on Sundy. … [+] Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images)
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He appears to be back at pre-injury form after playing in a combined 10 games over the previous two seasons.
San Francisco is banking on that after exhausting four draft picks to acquire the high-priced running back from Carolina. Despite a minimal cap hit this season, McCaffrey will count $12 million against the cap in 2023 and 2024 before that number rises to $12.2 million in 2025.
San Francisco knows full well that McCaffrey is going to be a big part of its future moving forward.
“This is not a rental. So that was something that you think about in this time. And that was something that, at least for me and definitely John (Lynch), that was so much more enticing, knowing if we got him, just contractually and stuff, he’s going to be here. We don’t have to be risking this come February,” Shanahan said after the McCaffrey trade became official.
That starts Sunday against Kansas City in a rematch of Super Bowl LIV from back in February of 2020.
