SANTA CLARA — The 49ers’ losses to the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowls LIV and LVIII are never going away.
And San Francisco All-Pro left tackle Trent Williams pointed out that a good showing on Sunday against the defending Super Bowl champs has no bearing on the past and everything to do with the future.
“It’s going to be a challenge,” Williams said on "49ers Talk." “I think us being able to complete this challenge does a lot going forward for us, but it doesn’t do anything for avenging the loss that happened back in February.”
Stay in the game with the latest updates on your beloved Bay Area and California sports teams! Sign up here for our All Access Daily newsletter.
The 49ers’ overtime loss to the Chiefs might have been the most devastating defeat in franchise history. After all, the 49ers became the only team in NFL history to take two leads in the fourth quarter and one in overtime and still lose.
It is a pain that will never entirely go away.
“It’s tough getting out of that heartbreak stage,” Williams said.
Williams did not re-watch the Super Bowl for eight months until he was forced this week to begin the process of studying to face Kansas City on Sunday at Levi’s Stadium.
San Francisco 49ers
Find the latest San Francisco 49ers news, highlights, analysis and more with NBC Sports Bay Area and California.
“It was tough,” he said. “It does bring back some extremely painful memories, for sure.”
Coach Kyle Shanahan already has stressed to his team that this is less a rematch of the Super Bowl as it is a game that can push the 49ers over the .500 mark for the 2024 season.
The 49ers enter Week 7 tied with the Seattle Seahawks atop the NFC West with a 3-3 record.
“That can give a little post-traumatic stress when you turn on the tape, but I think that's human nature,” Shanahan said of watching film from the Super Bowl.
“But you’ve got to make sure you don't get caught up in that. This game has nothing to do with past games. That was last year.”
Williams is in his 15th year in the NFL. He is experienced enough to take a pragmatic approach to what figures to be a game that will generate a lot of enthusiasm inside Levi’s Stadium.
“The emotions are temporary,” he said. “I’ve never seen a game get won off emotions. It’s usually won off smart football, protecting the football, not turning it over, penalties and field position. That’s what it comes down to.
“Bringing in outside emotions has nothing to do with this year. I look at it as bringing in extra baggage. There’s nothing we can do about it now. You got to move forward. Your mind should be on this Super Bowl, as opposed to the last one.”
Kansas City has not lost since falling to the Las Vegas Raiders on Christmas Day. Patrick Mahomes and his teammates enter the week as one of only two unbeaten teams in the NFL this season.
Kansas City has the additional advantage of coming off its bye week. Andy Reid’s teams are 21-4 after bye weeks in his coaching career.
Williams spoke of Kansas City's star power. He pointed out that the Chiefs feature “some of the all-time greats,” such as Mahomes, tight end Travis Kelce and defensive tackle Chris Jones.
“There’s definitely a lot we can get from this game,” Williams said. “It won’t be payback or revenge, but we’re playing the best team in the NFL. They’re still the defending champs.
"Nobody has beat them since they won the Super Bowl, so you do get to measure yourself against the best team in the league. And it forces you to play high-level football.”