Patrick Mahomes Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

As the San Francisco 49ers prepare for a Super Bowl LVIII matchup with the Kansas City Chiefs, it sounds like head coach Kyle Shanahan knows and understands just how difficult it is to defend a quarterback like Patrick Mahomes. In fact, when discussing him this week, Shanahan actually compared him to a Hall of Fame running back.

During an interview with NFL insider Peter King for his Football Morning in America column this week, Kyle Shanahan opened up about facing off against Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce, and the Kansas City Chiefs offense, comparing Mahomes to “a Barry Sanders highlight reel.”

“With Patrick,” Shanahan told Peter King, “it’s about the way he creates, the time he buys, the way he throws so fluidly, so confidently, from all platforms. Every game he’s like a Barry Sanders highlight reel. And [Travis] Kelce, I know he’s had a couple of drops, but to me he’s got the best hands in football. Their chemistry is so great.”

Obviously, defending Mahomes will be quite a challenge for the 49ers this week. But if they want to hoist the Lombardi Trophy after the game, they’ll have to find a way to slow down Mahomes and the Chiefs offense.

We’ll have to see how they perform.

[Pro Football Talk]