Dan Campbell says the 49ers are a "team with attitude," a "hard-nosed team that plays a physical style" on both sides of the ball. In other words, a team like the Lions. The two will go head to head in San Francisco on Sunday for a spot in the Super Bowl.
49ers All-Pro tight end George Kittle also sees a lot of his team in the Lions. He said he's "not surprised at all" to see Detroit in the NFC title game.
"The way that they play, you can just tell, everything that Dan Campbell preaches is what the team is," Kittle said Tuesday on the Pat McAfee Show. "It’s not fake. They’re gritty. They’re going to outwork you, they’re going to out-effort you, they’re going to put everything on tape."
Kittle, who led all tight ends in receiving yards (1,020) and yards per catch (15.7) this season, said that the mantra in the 49ers tight ends room is to "out-try your try-hards. And that seems like (the Lions') mindset as well: 'We're just going to out-try you and we’re going to put more effort on tape than anybody else,' and you see that."
"And they’ve got good players to match it," Kittle said. "I was looking really just at their offense, I think Frank (Ragnow), their center, is a phenomenal, phenomenal player, absolute dawg. Huge fan of Frank, met him last year at the Pro Bowl, super-cool dude.
"I like watching their offense, too. (Sam) LaPorta’s fantastic, (Amon-Ra) St. Brown’s fantastic, (Jared) Goff is playing at a high level, so their offense is doing everything they need to do. And hey, their running backs are pretty damn good as well. So they have a phenomenal offense, they’re playing the way that they need to play and our defense will do everything they can to slow them down."
The Lions were one of the best offenses in the NFL for the second straight season, finishing third in the league in yards per game (394.8) and yards per play (5.9) and fifth in points per game (27.1). Of course, the 49ers were one of the few offenses that was better. They ranked second in yards per game, first in yards per play and third in points per game. They were also better on third down and in the red zone.
San Francisco has the defense to match Detroit's offense, ranking third in points allowed per game. Question is, can the Lions say the same? They were 23rd this season in the same category. They've been slightly better of late, but have still allowed an average of 22 points over their last five games, just a tick below their season average of 23.2.
"On defense, they do some different stuff," Kittle said. "Their secondary is playing at a high level, their linebackers are downhill, they’re physical dudes, and (Aidan) Hutchinson is playing at a high level as well. So they have guys that are playing the way they want to play."
Maybe most dangerous of all, said Kittle, is the fact that the Lions are "on a roll right now,"
"And when you have momentum and you’re playing for that city of Detroit -- like, you can see and feel the energy in that stadium -- that is a huge wave of momentum that they’re bringing with them to California," Kittle said.