Late in the fourth quarter of the San Francisco 49ers' Week 14 showdown with the then-top seeded New Orleans Saints, it looked as if Saints quarterback Drew Brees' age-old magic was going to send head coach Kyle Shanahan's squad to its third loss of the season.
With 1:30 left in regulation, Brees hit wide receiver Tre'Quan Smith for a go-ahead touchdown to put the Saints up 46-45 over San Francisco. The subsequent two-point attempt failed, however, and the Niners were tasked with trying to answer back -- something they had been able to do for much of the back-and-forth, crazy afternoon.
And on the ensuing drive, tight end George Kittle made his most important contribution of the game.
With 39 seconds remaining, quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo hit Kittle down the left sideline for what was initially a first down and more. However, a 15-yard facemask penalty against Saints defensive back Chauncey Gardner-Johnson pushed San Francisco even deeper into field-goal range, where kicker Robbie Gould's 30-yard attempt gave the 49ers the win as time expired.
Still, Kittle's play was monumental in setting it up:
NO FEAR.@gkittle46 | #GoNiners pic.twitter.com/g3vprcCOpX
— San Francisco 49ers (@49ers) December 8, 2019
"It was a choice route," Kittle told reporters of the play after the game. "Get a motion over to see if it's a man or zone, and it was man. He was sitting inside, and I get a choice to go in or out. Emmanuel [Sanders] and [Kendrick Bourne] basically have go routes to clear it out for me. He was sitting hard inside, so it was a pretty easy decision for me.
"Break out, Jimmy gave me a great ball and just let me run with it."
Kittle would eventually finish with six catches for 67 yards. And in doing so, he moved into some pretty elite company, as pointed out by ESPN Stats and Information:
With 67 rec yards in today's win against the Saints, George Kittle now has the 4th-most rec yards (2,646) for a tight end through his first 3 seasons in NFL history.
Only Mike Ditka (2,774), Rob Gronkowski (2,663), and Jimmy Graham (2,648) are ahead of the 49ers tight end. pic.twitter.com/SvCHLG8mqD
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) December 8, 2019
"George is a baller," Sanders added. "Even when I was in Denver, he was doing the exact same thing. And I'm happy for him, too."
Sanders led all San Francisco pass catchers with 157 receiving yards on seven catches, plus a touchdown, while also tossing a 35-yard touchdown pass on a trick play to running back Raheem Mostert.
But Kittle's fourth-quarter play was arguably much more important. And the 49ers now improve to 11-2 as a result.
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Written by:Peter Panacy has been writing about the 49ers since 2011 for outlets like Bleacher Report, Niner Noise, 49ers Webzone, and is occasionally heard as a guest on San Francisco's 95.7 FM The Game and the Niners' flagship station, KNBR 680. Feel free to follow him, or direct any inquiries to his Twitter account.
