The San Francisco 49ers lost a tough game on Sunday to the Houston Texans. San Francisco's offense struggled for the most part against a stout Houston defense although George Kittle still showed up for National Tight Ends Day.
At the end of a first half in which San Francisco went without a first down until the closing minutes, quarterback Mac Jones connected with Kittle in the end zone to get the Niners on the board and send them to the locker room with some momentum.
It was a great back-shoulder throw from Jones to Kittle, who made a phenomenal catch while surrounded by three Houston defenders.
Kittle ended the day with four catches for 43 yards and the one touchdown catch. Those are not the biggest numbers he has ever put up, but it was still a really solid showing on the holiday that he and Jimmy Garoppolo founded.
Even Jake Tonges, the man behind Kittle on the tight end depth chart, got in on the action for the holiday with a touchdown catch of his own.
The game was a marked improvement over last week for Kittle, who returned after missing every game since going down with a hamstring injury in Week 1 versus the Seattle Seahawks. Kittle recorded no catches in Week 7 against the Atlanta Falcons, but he still had a big impact in the run game with his skills as a blocker.
Nonetheless, the Niners still lost the game to Houston, which drops them to 5-3 on the season. They will need to regroup and figure some things out on offense ahead of next week, as they will have to go on the road and face the New York Giants.
New York's defense is not as good as Houston's, but those early east coast games are always tricky for teams like the 49ers that have to travel from the west coast.
Perhaps Kittle can build upon his big National Tight Ends Day performance, though. He may have a bit more of a rhythm with Jones after the game against Houston, and it seems very possible that Jones will have to start against the Giants as Brock Purdy still recovers from his toe injury.
Kittle is a huge part of the offense for San Francisco, so it is nice to see him back out there doing George Kittle things.
But they may need him to do even more if the 49ers want to bounce back and get back in the win column next week.