Inside: Kittle dabbles in voodoo before, after big effort.
NEW ORLEANS >> George Kittle warded off evil spirits in more ways than one to set up the 49ers’ 48-46 comeback win.
In the obvious aspect, three New Orleans Saints defenders were needed to finally stop Kittle’s 39-yard reception at the 28yard line on fourth-and-2, the key play that set up Robbie Gould’s game-winning field goal as time expired.
Dabbling in voodoo may have helped the superstitious Kittle, too.
Kittle entered and exited the Superdome wearing a necklace a fan gave him to protect him and the 49ers. The necklace included a small “SF” logo, wood beads and alligator feet on the end.
“I’m not a little ‘stitious,’ I’m superstitious,” Kittle said.
He’s not a little factor in the 49ers’ offense. He’s a super factor, as evident on that 39-yard catchand-run.
“Once he caught it and turned up field and squared the guy up, I didn’t know what he was going to do,” quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo said. “I knew (Saints safety Marcus Williams) was in a bad situation on the other side.
“George is a beast with the ball in his hands, so it’s just ‘get him the ball in space and let him go to work.’”
Having set a single-season record last season for receiving yards by a tight end, Kittle wracked up 31 yards after his clutch catch, and when Williams drew a facemask penalty on the play, the 49ers were easily in position for Gould’s winning kick.
“He’s the best tight end in football and he’s the most physical,” cornerback Richard Sherman said. “He’s playing the game to be rude and to bully people.”
Kittle had six catches for 67 yards and a third-quarter touchdown catch that put the 49ers ahead 35-30.
Why didn’t Kittle go out of bounds and instead plow ahead on the left sideline in the final minute? Because his mindset is to “just try to run through them, carry them as far as I can.”
The 49ers’ chances looked bleak after Drew Brees’ fifth touchdown pass put the Saints ahead with 53 seconds to go.
Then the 49ers began their winning drive with an 8-yard completion to Kittle, and after two incompletions, it was time for Kittle’s act. When he recognized the Saints’ man coverage, he beat his man, then beat more men on the way to the 28-yard line.
“That play, he’s getting his facemask pulled, and a lot of people would just go down and complain,” Sherman said. “He’s like regardless of the facemask pull I’m going to bully you all the way to the end zone until you stop me.
”We’re thankful to have him because we don’t win that game without that play.”
Added coach Kyle Shanahan: “Kittle’s as physical as a tight end as there is in the league.”
Running back Matt Breida referred to Kittle’s power move as “grown-man stuff,” and wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders added that “now he’s putting it on display for the whole world to see.”