49ers beat:
Rookie tight end’s TD forces OT.
INDIANAPOLIS — After he had key drops in the two previous games, 49ers rookie tight end George Kittle had a big catch Sunday.
And then he had another. And another. And …
On a clutch game-tying drive at the end of regulation in a 26-23 overtime loss to the Colts, the fifth-round pick was the headliner. Kittle had four catches for 70 yards on the 89-yard drive, including a 19-yard grab in traffic on 4thand-1, and a 5-yard touchdown catch on 4th-and-goal to tie the score at 23 with 24 seconds left.
Kittle finished with career highs in catches (seven) and yards (83). He had 10 catches for 83 yards in his first four games and acknowledged his latest performance would boost his morale.
“It helps,” Kittle said. “Making catches, making plays, it always helps everyone’s confidence. You want to make those plays every single week. … I’m glad I could do as much as I could for the team this week.”
Kittle has Midwestern roots: He went to Iowa after attending high school in the state. As a result, he had a large fan club at his breakout game.
“All my aunts and uncles were all in Colts stuff,” Kittle said. “They could do better than that.”
Kittle became the first 49ers tight end with at least seven catches in a game since Vernon Davis had eight on Oct. 13, 2013. Armstrong, again: For the second straight week, inside linebacker Ray-Ray Armstrong had an interception in the end zone.
A week after he thwarted the Cardinals’ opening drive with a pick, it appeared Armstrong might give the 49ers a victory. On 1st-and-goal at the 8 in overtime, Colts quarterback Jacoby Brissett fired a pass that Armstrong grabbed and took 29 yards down the left sideline.
It briefly appeared he might finish the game with a touchdown.
“I thought I was going to score,” Armstrong said. “But if I didn’t, I was just trying to set my offense up in good field position, try to get a field goal to win the game.” Injury report: Rookie cornerback Ahkello Witherspoon made his NFL debut, but the third-round pick left the game with a concussion in the second quarter. Witherspoon had replaced Dontae Johnson for a series. He was injured when he was replacing Rashard Robinson on the next series.
In other injury news, cornerback Asa Jackson (hamstring) didn’t finish the game, and Robinson briefly exited with cramps.
Briefly: Linebacker Elvis Dumervil had 1.5 sacks, which gives him 102.5 in his career. The Colts became the 31st team against which he’s had a sack. Dumervil doesn’t have a sack against the Rams. … Kicker Robbie Gould made three field goals to extend his streak of successful field-goal attempts to 31, the longest active streak in the NFL.