On Feb. 11, the San Francisco 49ers will be taking on the Kansas City Chiefs in a rematch of Super Bowl 54. That game took place back in February 2020, with the Chiefs winning 31-20.

Well, former NFL quarterback Alex Smith—who spent time with both the 49ers and the Chiefs throughout his professional career—seems to think this year’s Super Bowl will be a whole lot like the first matchup unless San Francisco can put a lot of points on the board.

“This 49ers defense doesn’t do a lot,” Smith said, via Adam Schefter of ESPN. “They don’t present a lot of volume. I think… they’re going to be in for it. The only chance I think the Niners have to win is a little bit of a shootout, and again, this Chiefs defense just continues to elevate their game.”

San Francisco’s defense ranked eighth in the NFL in yardage and third in points allowed this season, so it’s certainly not like the Niners are bad on that side of the ball. Quite the contrary, as a matter of fact.

When the 49ers dial it in defensively, they can be dominant.

We saw this past weekend in the NFC Championship Game, when the Detroit Lions exploded for 24 points in the first half but were then held to just seven second-half points by San Francisco.

Smith, who played his collegiate football at the University of Utah, was originally selected by the Niners with the No. 1 overall pick of the 2005 NFL Draft.

He spent the first eight years of his career in the Bay, making a Pro Bowl appearance in 2013 after finishing with 3,313 yards, 23 touchdowns and seven interceptions.

Following his time with the 49ers, Smith joined Kansas City for five years, where he proceeded to make a couple of more trips to the Pro Bowl.

Smith ended his career with the Washington Redskins.

We’ll see if his ominous prediction for San Francisco comes to pass in a couple of weeks.

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