Why George Kittle Was All Smiles Despite Not Catching a Single Pass
The 49ers have fought through a spate of early-season injuries to emerge as one of the best teams in the NFL, moving to 5-2 on the year after an impressively physical 20-10 win over the Falcons on Sunday Night Football. It marked the return of All-Pro tight end George Kittle, who had been sidelined with a right hamstring injury the previous five games. Kittle did not fill up the stat sheet as Mac Jones's two passes in his direction fell incomplete, but the San Francisco offense hummed along quite nicely as Christian McCaffrey accounted for 201 total yards while finding the end zone twice.
The 49ers are a sum of their parts and synonymous with total team football so while it was somewhat surprising to see Kittle invited onto the SNF set to discuss the win, it makes sense.
"I like winning and I like when when Christian McCaffrey has a bunch of touchdowns," Kittle said.
There are a lot of Bay Area fans who would co-sign that statement. But few had the same foresight as Kittle about the running back's explosive performance.
"Every Saturday night, our tight end coach [Brian] Fleury wants all the tight ends to get up in front of the room and set a goal," Kittle said. "Anywhere from dominate the edges, tight end touchdown, whatever goals. And my goal this week was CMC [to be] NFC Player of the Week. And if I actually called that, that might be the best guess of all time."
The game is about more than numbers. Kittle's return may not have resulted in anything in the way of fantasy football production but it signals the 49ers are getting stronger and healthier. That they have been able to withstand a good amount of attrition to remain at the top of the NFC West is an excellent sign.
Insider can’t believe ‘crazy paragraph’ he wrote about Colts’ historic offense
The Indianapolis Colts added to the win column once again this week, and it was the Los Angeles Chargers who were in their way. The Colts won 38-24, and it was their offense like stuck out again, as they may be playing some of the best football of any team right now. Looking at their offense this week, they have been able to do some historic things, and ESPN’s Stephen Holder couldn’t believe he was writing this.
“The Colts have eclipsed 30 points in five of their seven games and lead the NFL in points per game (33.1) and yards per play (6.4). According to ESPN Research, their 232 points this season are their most through seven games since 1964– two decades before they relocated to Indianapolis from Baltimore,” Holder wrote.
Daniel Jones has resurrected his career in Indianapolis, and he’s getting the ball to everyone on the field. His has an array of options, and it’s almost not surprising that they’re scoring this many points every game. Add on to the fact that Jonathan Taylor is scoring every game (sometimes twice, sometimes three times), and you have the makings of an offense that’s going to be hard to stop.
Some were maybe wondering if this could be a fluke by the Colts, but through seven weeks, they look like the real deal.
Colts continue to dominate on offense
The Colts offense has been special this season, and the players themselves believe that this is sustainable as the year continues. Michael Pittman Jr. has been with the team for some time, and he knew that all they needed was one more player. That player was [Daniel] Jones.
“I always knew that we had really good players here and we were just missing something,” Pittman said. “And that’s something that Dan brought. I’ve always had confidence in our guys. We were just one player away.”
“We go into every game thinking we’re scoring 40,” Mo Alie-Cox said. “I mean, we are on the verge of doing it again. Every time we get the ball, we think we’re going to score.”
The Colts have made it look easy on that side of the ball, but their defense is also making big plays and limiting the opposing teams. If they continue to play like this as a collective unit, there’s no telling where they’ll stand at the end of the season and when the postseason arrives.
