Considered one of George Kittle‘s many throwaway lines — and he’s bought 1,000,000 of ’em — is that somebody is nice at soccer. It might be a teammate, generally it’s an opponent, and he makes use of it in practically each media setting. The 49ers tight finish mentioned it about Brock Purdy Thursday evening after a 36-24 street win over the Seattle Seahawks.
It’s not one he makes use of on himself, though his teammates absolutely really feel that method after Kittle punctured the 49ers’ pink zone woes with two key landing receptions that helped stop a 3rd division implosion.
With the 49ers main 16-3 at halftime on the power of three Matthew Wright subject targets and a 76-yard Purdy-to-Deebo Samuel landing, the 49ers have been dealing with a third-and-3 from the Seattle 10-yard line. The 49ers, who have been a woeful 40 p.c within the pink zone coming into the sport, had gotten so far as the 7 and the 17 and kicked subject targets.
Certainly one other subject purpose was to return. Besides this time, Purdy discovered Kittle underneath tight protection from security Justin Love and threw a strike for the 10-yard rating and a 23-3 lead. The one factor higher than the throw was the catch, which Kittle made look straightforward and by some means bought each ft in bounds for the rating.
The rating had been arrange by a 29-yard Purdy to Kittle completion alongside the left sideline the place he was left unguarded.
Kittle, who turned 31 Wednesday, mentioned the landing was a 3-year-old play they use on third down within the pink zone.
“We run it all the time in practice,” Kittle mentioned. “They were in a real funky coverage against it but Brock put it in the most perfect spot possible. Our tight ends coach Brian Fleury makes me do toe-taps on the sideline twice a week and that helped out a little bit.”
Later, with the 49ers main 23-17, Purdy hit Kittle, as soon as once more tightly guarded, on a 9-yard landing over the center with 6:20 to play that basically put the sport away.
Purdy had talked throughout the week about being extra aggressive in the long run zone, and each throws have been into tight home windows.
“Brock’s good at football,” Kittle mentioned.
It’s additionally value nothing that Kittle, in his eighth season, is constructing a possible Corridor of Fame resume, boosting his profession numbers to 488 receptions for six,557 yards and 43 touchdowns all whereas being one of many league’s finest blockers at his place.
Purdy is nice at soccer, however he’s fairly good, too, in terms of understanding the place to go along with the ball when your crew can’t appear to interrupt via contained in the 20-yard line.
“The first one, I saw him have leverage on the outside and I just needed to give him some space,” Purdy mentioned. “He did a great job breaking down and being at the right depth at his landmark. For me it’s about trusting him and laying it on the sideline, knowing my guy can go get it. The fact that he kept his two feet in was crazy.”
Purdy’s perception in Kittle was additionally large on the second rating, which got here on third-and-4.
“It was pretty tight coverage, he had a safety coming down on him and he cross-faced at the window,” Purdy mentioned. “Both touchdowns were just a trust factor. It’s something we continue to grow at with the number of games we’ve played together and tonight it showed really well.”
Kittle, whose potential to search out the digicam is aware of no bounds, even bought to leap into the stands to go to his spouse Claire after the second rating, in addition to on a 6-yard run by Kyle Juszczyk on the 49ers’ closing landing.
For as a lot as Kittle performs to the media, his boundless enthusiasm and constructive vibes make him the star nobody resents as a result of he appears to get pleasure from it virtually as a lot as he does enjoying the game he grew up loving. He touched on that when speaking about his first landing.
“I’ve played a lot of football,” Kittle mentioned. “Those are the plays I’ve been pretending to have since I was a kid with my dad in the backyard. Those are the plays you dream of and I just wanted to have the opportunity to do that tonight. Whether it’s practice reps or visualization, that’s what prepared me for the moment.”
Having joined the 49ers as a rookie when Shanahan was named head coach, Kittle has been via tough begins and difficult video games in addition to unforgettable wins. He’s skilled euphoria in addition to bitter defeat. These experiences helped when Seattle climbed again into the sport at 23-17 throughout a recreation they trailed 23-3.
“We’ve been in a lot of big games, we’ve won a lot of big games,” Kittle mentioned. “We’ve got a lot of guys that have been here four years plus. We’ve lost some big games. We are experienced in the moment. We try our best not to let it get too big for us. When we get new guys out there, when they feel the confidence from the guys that have been there, they fit right in and have confidence as well.”
