George Kittle has been on an absolute tear since returning from his calf injury in Week 9. In Sunday’s 26-23 overtime win over the Cincinnati Bengals, the 49ers tight end accomplished NFL history.
Kittle racked up a season-high 13 catches for 151 yards and a touchdown Sunday. According to 49ers Communications, Kittle became the first tight end in NFL history to record at least 150 yards and a touchdown in consecutive games, as he also had nine catches for 181 yards and two touchdowns last week.
“Coach Shanahan’s calling my name and giving me an opportunity, and Jimmy’s throwing me the football,” Kittle said. “That’s all it is. Like, games where I have one catch for 13 yards against the Vikings, we ran the ball 35 times, I don’t care. I know that when coach Shanahan calls my name I have to go out there and execute.”
Among Kittle’s baker’s dozen of catches, two stood out above the rest. First, came his touchdown right before halftime, when he torqued his body at the pylon to keep the ball in bounds.
In the waning moments of regulation, Kittle went full extension to catch a 19-yard pass from Garoppolo down at the Cincinnati 29-yard line.
Though kicker Robbie Gould missed a 47-yard game-winning attempt to wrap up the fourth quarter, Brandon Aiyuk secured the ‘W’ with a tight-rope touchdown in overtime.
For the season, Kittle has a career-high six touchdowns and all of them have come since he returned from his injury in Week 9. He’s been in a league of his own when it comes to production in the past six weeks.
