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Eric Williams
NFL Reporter
Ever the showman, George Kittle soared through the air during pregame warm-ups, dunking an imaginary basketball over the goalpost to the delight of San Francisco 49ers’ fans, who were egging him on from the stands.
The flashy move was a foreshadowing of things to come two weeks ago against the Arizona Cardinals. Kittle would score in the same end zone on a 4-yard pass from quarterback Brock Purdy.
Overall, however, scoring in the red zone has been problematic for a team that has yet to click on all cylinders offensively. The 49ers had the No. 1-ranked red-zone offense a year ago at 67.1%. But through the first six weeks of this season, they are tied for No. 25 in the NFL at 44.4%.
Of course, the 49ers are missing last year’s NFL Offensive Player of the Year, do-it-all running back Christian McCaffrey. Out since the start of the season with Achilles tendinitis, McCaffrey led the league in total red-zone touchdowns in 2023 with 18.
With McCaffrey’s return date still uncertain, Purdy and the 49ers have leaned more on Kittle. The dynamic tight end leads the NFL with 10 catches and five touchdowns in the red zone through six games. He has scored touchdowns in four straight games.
Kittle will need to be at his best on Sunday when the 49ers host the Kansas City Chiefs. The defending Super Bowl champs are tied for No. 10 in the league in red-zone defense (46.7%).
Kittle was particularly effective in San Francisco’s road victory last week against the Seattle Seahawks. He had two touchdowns in the red zone — a toe-tapper on an out route along the sideline and a pinpoint laser by Purdy over the middle of the field.
“Both touchdowns were just a trust factor,” Purdy said. “Something that we’ve continued to grow at throughout the offseason and throughout the games that we’ve played together.”
San Francisco coach Kyle Shanahan said the touchdowns are part of his offense’s evolution in that area…
Source link : https://www.foxsports.com/stories/nfl/why-george-kittle-key-solving-49ers-red-zone-woes-without-christian-mccaffrey
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Publish date : 2024-10-17 16:22:41
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