KANSAS CITY — The San Francisco 49ers, disguised as the NFL's best team before Sunday after polishing off 11 losers in a row, were unmasked by the Kansas City Chiefs, and stripped of running back Garrison Hearst for the remainder of the regular season with a fractured collarbone.
The Chiefs, 14th in scoring and matched against the league's top defense, demolished the 49ers, 44-9, before 77,535 in Arrowhead Stadium, the most points scored by Kansas City since 1985 and the most posted against San Francisco in a regular-season game since 1980.
"We were embarrassed," San Francisco safety Tim McDonald said. "We couldn't stop anything. People may prejudge us because of this, but all that matters is what happens at the end of the season and we will have the final answer."
The 49ers (11-2), looking like a lock to secure the home-field advantage throughout the playoffs after beating on the Rams, Falcons, Saints and Panthers much of the season, were overwhelmed by the Chiefs (10-3), who took a 28-3 lead in the second quarter and forced quarterback Steve Young to the bench in the fourth quarter for his own protection.
"We got our butts kicked," Young said. "We got punched in the mouth, but that could be a good thing for this team. We have to make something of this experience, this bitter experience, and make it a part of the reason why we go on and become successful."
With no more games remaining against the hapless likes of the Chargers, Cowboys or any of the cream puffs residing in the NFC West, the 49ers, however, will be required to do something quite extraordinary: beat a team with a winning record.
"We got a little overconfident," San Francisco cornerback Darren Woodson said, "and they put it to us. Against good teams when it goes the opposite way for you--you get blown out."
Steve Mariucci, the 49ers' wunderkid coach, is 0-3 in his last three assignments against opponents with a winning ledger: Kansas City, Tampa Bay and Navy.
"The St. Louis Rams had a winning record when we played them," Mariucci said. "They were 1-0."
Details, details, details. The Chiefs had them all going in their favor after guaranteeing Coach Marty Schottenheimer a 10-win season for the ninth time in his 13 years as coach in Cleveland and Kansas City:
* They got four touchdown passes in a game for the first time since 1983.
* They stopped the opposition from scoring a touchdown in the second half for the eighth consecutive game.
