George Kittle reintroduced to 49ers’ offense in loss to Rams. Here’s why it’s a big deal

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 ers 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 - 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 match Kittle caught nine passes for yards and scored on a -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 revealed 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 -inch line I was certainly 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 outcome 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 - but take a look at the ers next four games They visit Arizona - 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 - which has been better than expected but stubbed its toe at home against a very poor New Orleans squad After that the ers expedition to Cleveland - which lost to the New York Jets of all teams Conclusively there s the Week bye and then back home to play Tennessee which had a bye week and is - Not exactly murderer s row And while it s no sure thing you can make a solid scenario for the ers to be - before the final four games of the season at Indianapolis - at home against Chicago - and eventually at home against Seattle - to close out the season Even if they lost all three the ers 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 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 battle it changes the ers personality as well as outlook He brings vitality and life to the offense and he s dynamic fullback Kyle Juszczyk recounted NBC Sports Bay Area There s not a lot of tight ends who can make premier plays like you saw in contemporary times where he s toeing the sideline reaching five yards and scoring a touchdown He brings that in the pass contest and brings physicality in the run event Every time we have him out there it just energizes everyone around him George Kittle eaches for a pass Sunday from Mac Jones against Kam Curl in the ers' - loss at Levi's Stadium Shae Hammond Bay Area News Group All the power in the world couldn t overcome the ers losing two turnovers on a fumble by Jauan Jennings and an interception on fourth down by Jones And also committing seven penalties for yards to none for the Rams No one disputes the Rams have the better roster They re a legitimate Super Bowl contender and they exhibited it against the ers who are severely challenged defensively So severely challenged that the ers offense must be something approaching perfect That didn t happen on Sunday but Kittle believes things will be better and they ll gain various momentum in terms of strength when Ricky Pearsall Jr Purdy and maybe Brandon Aiyuk rejoin the club when healthy I thoroughly believe we can outcome a ton of points and I really do believe our defense will get a little bit better every single week Kittle mentioned I really believe that Jones was -for- targeting Kittle who had just eight receptions for yards and a touchdown in three games since his return from injured reserve The last time he caught nine balls was against Cincinnati in and the last time he had more than nine was also against Cincinnati in receptions for yards Jones wasn t sure Kittle had scored the touchdown until he explained he had He made a great play making the touchdown catch and diving in Jones mentioned And he had a bunch of good catches in the championship with tight coverage when they were holding him and stuff so he did a good job But points Kittle warned is absolutely not enough And it s clear that without the penalties and the turnovers it could have been a encounter similar to the - overtime win at SoFi Stadium that Kittle missed on Oct He s convinced coordinator Robert Saleh s young defense will get better The Rams post the formidable offense the ers will see the rest of the regular season Related Articles Kurtenbach The ers played an elite group and were swiftly put in their place What the ers announced after losing to the Rams at Levi s Stadium ers Studs and Duds Little to celebrate in lopsided loss to Rams Rams ers Injury-thinned defense yields majority points this season ers-Rams live updates Niners can t keep pace with LA They re going to get specific stops and we have to continue to total a lot of points and not turn the ball over Kittle commented And our special teams is playing really well You re going to have a hard time convincing people the ers 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 ers are right now constituted no matter what the fan base thinks And the man pointing the way is Kittle That in itself should give fans particular hope as the regular season hits the home stretch