George Kittle added another line to his 49ers résumé in Week 4, and this one put him alone at the top of a major franchise list.
His 56-yard touchdown in San Francisco’s 24-14 win over the Denver Broncos didn’t just seal the game. It pushed him past Vernon Davis and made him the 49ers’ all-time touchdown leader among tight ends. Davis finished his run with the team at 55 touchdowns, and Kittle’s score was his fourth of the season, giving him 56 overall.
That kind of milestone usually feels like a career-end type of moment. For Kittle, it came in September.
It is hard to overstate how far he has already come this season after the Achilles injury he suffered in January. He missed the full offseason, then still made it back for Week 1 just eight months later, well ahead of the recovery window most people would have expected for an injury like that. He looked a little rusty in that opener, but the 49ers rolled past the Los Angeles Rams anyway.
Since then, he has been on a tear. In Week 2 against the Miami Dolphins, Week 3 against the Arizona Cardinals and Week 4 against the Broncos, Kittle has looked every bit like the player San Francisco counts on when the game tightens up. Across those three games at Levi’s Stadium, he has posted four touchdowns, 232 receiving yards and a string of important catches.
The production has been outrageous, especially for a player who is 32 and soon to be 33. The injury did not dull his edge. If anything, he has returned looking stronger, and his physicality has never been in question.
The Broncos were always going to be a stiff test. Their defense is one of the league’s best for a reason. Kittle made the decisive play look easy anyway, finishing off the night with a score that barely seemed to require effort.
With this record now in place, his place in 49ers history is about as secure as it gets. He already owns the franchise marks for receptions and touchdowns by a tight end, and now the list of records he can chase only gets longer.
He has also become one of the defining draft picks of the Kyle Shanahan era, and the timing could not have been better. Kittle delivered on the same day Shanahan became the longest-serving head coach in franchise history.
Now in Year 10, he has shown no sign of backing off. For the 49ers, the legacy case is done.
In Other News...
49ers Escape Denver With A Bigger Concern Heading Into Seattle
The 49ers left Denver with a win, but the bigger storyline may have been what came out of the game physically. San Francisco had already taken a hit in a hard-fought afternoon, and the injury list kept growing as the game wore on, with several players forced to exit before the final whistle.
The most notable concern centers on fullback Kyle Juszczyk, who injured his knee and is preliminarily believed to have a sprain with an intact ACL, pending MRI results. Safety Marques Sigle and cornerback Upton Stout also left with injuries, though none of the early signs point to anything season-ending, leaving the 49ers waiting on more clarity as they turn their attention to Seattle. [Read more 🡒]
49ers Win Still Left Kyle Shanahan With An Uncomfortable Debate
Kyle Shanahans name now sits alone atop a franchise list that once belonged to Bill Walsh, a milestone that would normally define a victory lap for any 49ers coach. Instead, it came in a 24-14 win over the Broncos that felt more like a reminder of how San Francisco is being carried right now, with the defense doing the heavy lifting while Brock Purdy and the offense worked through a flatter afternoon than the team has been used to.
The 49ers still moved the ball well enough to finish with 358 yards and they stayed efficient enough on third down, going 6 of 13 without turning it over. But for a coach who just passed a legend and for an offense that had already set a higher bar earlier in the season, the bigger question coming out of the game was not the record book moment. It was how much Shanahan trusts this version of the offense to find its rhythm again before the schedule starts demanding it. [Read more 🡒]
Dre Greenlaw Had A Personal Message For Sean Payton Sunday
Dre Greenlaw had a little extra edge Sunday in the 49ers matchup with Denver, and it showed in a moment that quickly made the rounds. The linebacker, now back in San Francisco on a one-year contract, was caught on camera telling Broncos coach Sean Payton that Denver made a mistake letting him go after injuries cut short his run there.
For the 49ers, it was another reminder that Greenlaw is not just back, he matters to their defense in a big way. After spending the previous season with the Broncos, he has reestablished himself as an important piece in San Francisco, and the message he delivered Sunday carried the kind of personal sting that tends to follow a player who felt he had something to prove. [Read more 🡒]