KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The San Francisco 49ers used a late scoring drive to turn back Kansas City 15-13 in the Chiefs’ National Football League preseason home opener on Friday night at Arrowhead Stadium.
Niners reserve quarterback B.J. Daniels, listed No. 4 on the depth chart, engineered a 13-play, 90-yard drive that was capped by a 14-yard touchdown pass to Chuck Jacobs with 2:02 remaining in the fourth quarter for the go-ahead score. The drive ate up six minutes, 24 seconds off the game clock, and the Chiefs were unable to muster a late march.
New Chiefs quarterback Alex Smith played the entire first half. He was sacked three times, all by 49ers second- and third-team defenders, who switched in-and-out of the lineup throughout.
The Niners talked all week about finally getting to put a hit on Smith, but their backups did almost of all the work, including a helmet-to-helmet shot by defensive end Tony Jerod-Eddie, which drew a personal foul penalty.
The three Chiefs QBs, including Chase Daniel and Tyler Bray, absorbed seven sacks in all.
“Well, there were some protection issues,” Chiefs head coach Andy Reid said, “whether there were hot throws or where there were protections that we had breakdowns on.
“We’ve got to make sure we take care of those.”
Smith completed only 7 of 16 passes for 62 yards in a stagnant performance against his former team. The Chiefs did not display a downfield attack all game.
“Not very efficient in the passing game,” Smith said. “I left a lot out there. I think I didn’t handle the pressure as well and just some finer details here and there. I didn’t connect on some of them.
“I think we didn’t get into the rhythm we got into last week (in scoring a touchdown on their opening drive against the New Orleans Saints last week in their preseason opener). Some protection, yeah, I think that kind of falls on all of us. A few communication things up front, we have to get ironed out.”
Smith spent the last eight seasons with the 49ers after being the No. 1 overall pick in the 2005 draft out of the University of Utah.
Chiefs second-string QB Chase Daniel started the second half and played into the fourth quarter, subbed at times by third-teamer Tyler Bray, who took the snaps down the stretch.
San Francisco standout quarterback Colin Kaepernick only played one series, with Colt McCoy, Scott Tolzien and Daniels all taking snaps the rest of the way. Daniels stepped to the forefront late, and might have secured the No. 2 job behind Kaepernick as the Niners leveled their record at 1-1.
“He’s been there this past week,” 49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh said of Daniels. “I think we’re good with Colin. We know what we’ve got. In the second week of preseason we didn’t want anything freakish to happen.”
The Chiefs (0-2) led 13-6 at halftime, but were shut out in the second half. The first quarter was highlighted by Quentin Demps’ 104-yard kickoff return for a touchdown at the 9:38 mark. It’s the longest kick return for a score by a Chiefs player since Noland “Super Gnat” Smith took one back 106 yards during the 1967 season, though preseason statistics don’t count toward official records.
“I just saw red, all red,” said Demps of his return, where he got to the outside and streaked down the right sideline, avoiding cornerback Perrish Cox’s tackle attempt. “The guys were blocking, so I just stayed behind them. I couldn’t let him get me because I didn’t want the guys to clown me in the film room.
“We’re going to be aggressive (in the preseason) and we’re going to bring the thing out, no matter what. I didn’t think twice about it.”
Demps is a fifth-year pro out of the University of Texas-El Paso.
Kansas City’s other points came on a 47-yard field goal by Ryan Succop, as well as a 23-yard chip shot, for a 13-6 halftime lead.
Niners placekicker Phil Dawson hit 42- and 55-yard field goals in the first half and another 55-yarder with 12:28 remaining in the game.
Chiefs running back Knile Davis, a rookie out of Arkansas, subbed for injured star back Jamaal Charles, out with a strained foot. Davis finishd with 10 carries for 37 yards and catch three passes for 31 yards — both team highs.
“He had some good, tough yards,” Reid said of Davis. “He was productive. He’s a young kid, and he missed a couple of blitz pickups there, but that’s good. He’ll learn from them and do well.”

National Football League

Preseason

Friday

At Arrowhead Stadium

Kansas City, Mo.

San Francisco 15, Kansas City 13

San Francisco  3  3  3  6—15

Kansas City   10  3  0  0—13

First Quarter

SF—FG Dawson 42, 9:52.

KC—Demps 104 kickoff return (Succop kick), 9:38.

KC—FG Succop 47, 1:54.

Second Quarter

SF—FG Dawson 55, 12:28.

KC—FG Succop 23, 2:31.

Third Quarter

SF—FG Dawson 55, 5:42.

Fourth Quarter

SF—Jacobs 14 pass from Daniels (kick blocked), 2:02.

A—64,434.

___

                      SF  KC

First downs     14  12

Total net yds  271  170

Rushes-yds  37-160  24-72

Passing  111  98

Punt Ret  0-0  5-61

KO Returns  3-83  5-204

Int. Returns  0-0  1-3

Comp-Att-Int  13-25-1  17-30-0

Sacked-Yds lost  4-23  7-39

Punts  7-42.4  7-38.6  

Fumbles-Lost  1-0  0-0

Penalties-Yards  10-87  8-68

Time of Poss.  32:36  27:24

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING—San Francisco, Gore 2-54, McCoy 4-37, Hampton 19-33, James 5-17, Daniels 4-13, Tolzien 2-3, Harper 1-3. Kansas City, Davis 10-37, Gray 6-17, Draughn 6-11, A.Smith 2-7.

PASSING—San Francisco, Daniels 6-9-0-72, McCoy 3-6-1-35, Tolzien 3-8-0-30, Kaepernick 1-2-0-(minus 3). Kansas City, A.Smith 7-16-0-62, Daniel 6-6-0-51, Bray 4-8-0-24.

RECEIVING—San Francisco, Hall 2-39, Jacobs 2-28, Hawkins 2-20, Hampton 2-17, Celek 2-9, Gray 1-13, Collie 1-11, James 1-(minus-3). Kansas City, Davis 3-31, Fasano 3-22, Newsome 3-22, Draughn 1-17, Opurum 1-12, McCluster 1-9, Hemingway 1-7, Avery 1-6, Wylie 1-6, Brock 1-3, Moeaki 1-2.