Kittle’s 210 yards helps end 49ers’ skid
SANTA CLARA — Their eventual 20-14 win over the Denver Broncos did not hinder the San Francisco 49ers’ position atop next year’s draft board, and it certainly provided a morale boost for a flailing franchise that had lost its past three and 10 of 12 before Sunday’s stunner.
This game will be remembered for Kittle’s first-half outburst, even though somber feelings followed in the postgame locker room, with coach Kyle Shanahan dedicating the win to Tony York, the 49ers owners’ youngest son who died unexpectedly Friday at age 35.
“The true fan he was for the Niners always was so fun to watch, and for us to have the win today with what happened to him yesterday, it means a ton,” Shanahan said.
Setting up the 49ers for success was Kittle’s biggest game of a breakout season by the second-year, Pro Bowl-worthy play maker.
All seven of Kittle’s receptions came before halftime and he finished 5 yards shy of breaking Shannon Sharpe’s single-game record for tight ends, set in 2002 when Sharpe also played for a Shanahan, that being Kyle’s father, Mike, on the Broncos.
Kittle became the first 49ers tight end to eclipse the 1,000yard mark in a season, doing so in flamboyant style on an 85yard touchdown catch-and-run that gave the 49ers a 13-0 lead.
“He was open every play, man. It was crazy,” Nick Mullens said. “Every receiver was open. That’s why I give coaches so much credit.”
Shanahan noted that he was “like a fan” and wanted Kittle to break’s Sharpe record.
“The thing he’s done better than any tight end I’ve had is what he does after the catch,” Kyle Shanahan said. “When the ball is in the air, the play is just starting. He runs angry and confident he’s going to score.”
Mullens snapped out of his three-game funk and did more than capitalize on Kittle’s hands. Mullens passed for 332 yards, his second-most in five starts and a solid encore to last Sunday’s 414-yard outburst at Seattle.
Mullens helped clinch the win with gutsy, third-down conversions to Dante Pettis (31 yards) and Trent Taylor (6 yards) in the final minutes. That drive ate up 3:48, but Mullens’ errantly took his kneeldown snap too soon, allowing the Broncos a final play that mercifully went awry with a fumble out of bounds at the 49ers’ 40.