Before the 49ers visited the Panthers in a divisional-playoff game in January 2014, plenty of media attention was given to the game’s great inside linebackers: The 49ers had Patrick Willis and NaVorro Bowman, and the Panthers had Luke Kuechly and Thomas Davis.

At 22, Kuechly was the youngest of the quartet, and there was already talk he was the best, which rankled Bowman. In fact, 20 days after the game, Kuechly was named the NFL Defensive Player of the Year, an award Bowman, Willis and Davis have never won.

The final score: 49ers 23, Panthers 10.

Bowman had 11 tackles and a sack; Kuechly had 10 tackles and a sack.

“It was Luke Kuechly this; it was Luke Kuechly that,” Bowman said during a recent hour-long interview. “We went out there and we beat the brakes off them. Nobody said anything. But I guarantee you, if Luke Kuechly would have done something they would have blown it up.”

Nearly four years after that game, Bowman, 29, and Kuechly, 26, will share the field Sunday when the 49ers host the Panthers in the season opener.

Bowman, who twice brought up Kuechly without prompting during the interview, knows the perceived gulf between them has widened since their 2014 meeting in Charlotte. A week after the 49ers’ win, Bowman sustained a horrific knee injury in the NFC Championship Game in Seattle. On Sunday, he will be returning from a torn Achilles he sustained Oct. 1.

Bowman has missed 28 of the past 48 games, while Kuechly, despite missing the final six games last year with a concussion, leads the NFL in tackles (693) and leads linebackers in interceptions (12) since he entered the league in 2012.

Kuechly is viewed as the NFL’s gold standard at the position. Bowman says that, statistically, he’s nearly been Kuechly’s equal when he’s been on the field.

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In Kuechly’s last 69 starts (he has 71 in his career), he has 662 tackles, nine sacks and 12 interceptions. In Bowman’s 69 career starts, he has 633 tackles, 12.5 sacks and four interceptions.

Bowman and Kuechly both have four seasons in which they’ve made at least 13 starts. Bowman was named a first-team All-Pro in each of those seasons, and Kuechly has three first-team All-Pro honors.

“Our numbers - they’re not too far apart,” Bowman said. “But he’s still where he is. And I’m still scratching and clawing, trying to keep my head above water. Why is that?”

Bowman has a theory. He notes he was a third-round pick in 2010, while Kuechly was selected No. 9 overall in 2012.

“He got drafted in what round?” Bowman said. “So it makes (NFL evaluators) seem like they’re right. I got drafted in the third round, so any negative energy I bring toward my name, it makes them seem like they’re right.

“I can’t believe it. I’ve overcome, ‘You’re too small to play the inside, at middle linebacker.’ That I’m injury prone. Every injury I’ve had, I’ve always bounced back from it. And I guarantee you, if I make it through all 16 (games), I’ll be All-Pro again and I’ll be a Pro Bowler.”

Bowman can begin backing up his words Sunday on the same field Kuechly will patrol. He hopes everyone is paying close attention.

“You watch this whole game of NaVorro Bowman,” he said. “And you watch this whole game of Luke Kuechly. You tell me who the best linebacker is.”

Eric Branch is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: ebranch@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @Eric_Branch