The San Francisco 49ers' championship hopes were dashed two weeks ago in the NFC title game at SoFi Stadium, as the rival Los Angeles Rams scored 13 unanswered points during the fourth quarter to win, 20-17, and earn literal home-field advantage in Super Bowl 56 against the Cincinnati Bengals.
As close as the 49ers were to reaching their first Super Bowl since 2012 and continuing their survive-and-advance playoff run, they didn't generate much production from star tight end George Kittle. Across three playoff games, he had seven receptions (14 targets) for 108 yards and a touchdown, and in the team's final six games of the campaign, he averaged just 26.3 yards. But the clear dip in volume didn't bother Kittle.
"There's some things with gameplan, whatever the other team's doing against you. You've just got to take advantage of the opportunity when you get it, and there's limited opportunities there," Kittle told the Maggie and Perloff show on Friday. "If you go back, I was just watching them, we had a couple that we let get away from us. We had a touchdown available versus the Cowboys and we didn't pick up a protection.
"So, that would've been a fun catch to have. I got my first playoff touchdown [against the Rams], which I was excited about. Like I said, you've got to take advantage of the opportunities. Sometimes, there's not 10 catches available for you. I would always love to have more catches than that. But, it is what it is, and I'm just going to try to do better next time."
To Kittle's standards, 2021 can be considered a down year. He failed to reach 1,000 receiving yards and triple-digit targets in 14 regular season games, and his 9.7 yards per target was the second-lowest mark of his career. But he still amassed 910 yards -- fourth-best among NFL tight ends -- with a career-high six touchdowns. Kittle also made his third Pro Bowl appearance last Sunday.
The entire football conversation between Kittle and Maggie and Perloff can be accessed in the audio player above.
You can follow the Maggie and Perloff Show on Twitter @MaggieandPerl and Tom Hanslin @TomHanslin.