It’s not like tight end George Kittle has been missing in action since returning a little more than a month ago from a torn hamstring.
He’s been as relentlessly positive as ever, cracking up teammates while at the same time inspiring them to do greater things. It’s no accident the 49ers’ two best rushing games against Atlanta and the New York Giants came with Kittle delivering key blocks and setting a physical tone.
Yet Kittle and quarterback Mac Jones hadn’t made the game-day passing connection in the same way it happened with Brock Purdy. That changed in a big way Sunday in a 42-26 loss to the Los Angeles Rams at Levi’s Stadium.
When Purdy comes back, he knows where his bread is buttered. It starts with Christian McCaffrey and George Kittle. Jones knows all about getting McCaffrey the ball and now he and Kittle are on the same wavelength in the passing game.
Kittle caught nine passes for 84 yards and scored on a 13-yard pass from Jones in which he somehow stayed in bounds, extending the ball over the goal line before his knees hit the ground.
“In my senior year (at Iowa), I had a similar play on the sideline,” Kittle said in the aftermath. “My back foot hit out of bounds as I was entering the end zone, and they called me out of bounds on the 1-inch line. I was actually thinking about that when I was diving. I was thinking, ‘Keep your feet up!’ which is a wild flashback from nine years ago.”
The points accounted for the final score, which nobody was happy with. But reintroducing Kittle to the offense is a big deal and will go a long way toward determining if there’s a postseason in their future. They’re third wheels behind the Rams and Seattle in the NFC West at 6-4, but take a look at the 49ers’ next four games.
They visit Arizona (3-6), blown out Sunday by Seattle, which is tied with the Rams with the two teams facing off next Sunday with Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray on injured reserve. Then it’s back at Levi’s against Carolina (5-5), which has been better than expected but stubbed its toe at home against a very poor New Orleans team.
After that, the 49ers travel to Cleveland (2-8), which lost to the New York Jets, of all teams. Finally there’s the Week 14 bye, and then back home to play Tennessee, which had a bye week and is 1-8.
Not exactly murderer’s row. And while it’s no sure thing, you can make a solid case for the 49ers to be 10-4 before the final four games of the season: at Indianapolis (8-2), at home against Chicago (6-3) and finally at home against Seattle (7-2) to close out the season.
Even if they lost all three, the 49ers would at least be on the periphery of a playoff berth, something that looked hopeless when Nick Bosa and Fred Warner were lost for the season. But 11 wins looks pretty doable despite the heavy losses.
Bosa and Warner were on hand in the locker room to cheer on their teammates, but they can’t take that physicality and leadership onto the field like Kittle can. And when Kittle is a regular part of the passing game, it changes the 49ers’ personality as well as outlook.
“He brings energy and life to the offense and he’s dynamic,” fullback Kyle Juszczyk told NBC Sports Bay Area. “There’s not a lot of tight ends who can make premier plays like you saw today, where he’s toeing the sideline, reaching five yards and scoring a touchdown. He brings that in the pass game and brings physicality in the run game. Every time we have him out there, it just energizes everyone around him.”
All the energy in the world couldn’t overcome the 49ers losing two turnovers on a fumble by Jauan Jennings and an interception on fourth down by Jones. And also committing seven penalties for 45 yards to none for the Rams.
No one disputes the Rams have the better roster. They’re a legitimate Super Bowl contender and they showed it against the 49ers, who are severely challenged defensively.
So severely challenged that the 49ers offense must be something approaching perfect. That didn’t happen on Sunday, but Kittle believes things will be better, and they’ll gain some momentum in terms of health when Ricky Pearsall Jr., Purdy and maybe Brandon Aiyuk rejoin the team when healthy.
“I thoroughly believe we can score a ton of points, and I really do believe our defense will get a little bit better every single week,” Kittle said. “I really believe that.”
Jones was 9-for-9 targeting Kittle, who had just eight receptions for 68 yards and a touchdown in three games since his return from injured reserve. The last time he caught nine balls was against Cincinnati in 2023, and the last time he had more than nine was also against Cincinnati in 2021 — 13 receptions for 151 yards.
Jones wasn’t sure Kittle had scored the touchdown until he said he had.
“He made a great play, making the touchdown catch and diving in,” Jones said. “And he had a bunch of good catches in the game with tight coverage when they were holding him and stuff so he did a good job.”
But 20 points, Kittle warned, is simply not enough. And it’s clear that without the penalties and the turnovers, it could have been a game similar to the 26-23 overtime win at SoFi Stadium that Kittle missed on Oct. 2. He’s convinced coordinator Robert Saleh’s young defense will get better. The Rams post the formidable offense the 49ers will see the rest of the regular season.
“They’re going to get some stops, and we have to continue to score a lot of points and not turn the ball over,” Kittle said. “And our special teams is playing really well.”
You’re going to have a hard time convincing people the 49ers have any sort of chance to get to the Super Bowl and winning the division looks unlikely as well.
But even getting to the playoffs is a win with how the 49ers are currently constituted, no matter what the fan base thinks. And the man pointing the way is Kittle. That in itself should give fans some hope as the regular season hits the home stretch.