The San Francisco 49ers turned in a rough showing in Week 10, dropping a 42-26 loss to the Los Angeles Rams on November 9 at Levi’s Stadium. The Niners’ offense struggled to keep pace throughout the contest and couldn’t match the opposition’s firepower.
### Bright Spot: George Kittle’s Performance
Despite the loss, one of the few bright spots for San Francisco was tight end George Kittle’s performance. The veteran pass catcher recorded nine receptions for 84 yards and one touchdown.
While the loss drops the 49ers to third place in the tight NFC West, Kittle remains optimistic. He believes the team can still go on a deep playoff run thanks to key players expected to return in the second half of the season.
“I think we’re incredibly talented and we still have guys on offense coming back,” Kittle said postgame (h/t 49ers Web Zone).
“Brock Purdy is an amazing quarterback and that’s why we paid him so much money,” he continued. “Whenever we can get Ricky and hopefully at some point Brandon back, we have a lot of talent on this offense. I thoroughly believe that we can score a ton of points, and I really do also believe that our defense will just get a little better every single week.”
Kittle acknowledged the challenges the defense has faced. “They’ve just been taking haymakers year-round with all the injuries. But (defensive coordinator Robert) Saleh is such a good coach that he’s going to bump those guys up. They’re going to get some stops and we just have to continue to score a lot of points and not turn the ball over.”
### The 49ers Remain Hopeful in the NFC West Race
With a 6-4 record, the 49ers currently sit in third place behind the Seattle Seahawks and Rams, who both hold 7-2 records. With the division race this close, every loss stings a little more.
Still, cornerback Deommodore Lenoir is not backing down from the fight for the division.
“Tough game out there,” Lenoir told reporters postgame (h/t KNBR). “I feel like it was a lot of miscues with just us as players, not on the coaches, because they put us in the position. We just gotta come down and make those plays.”
“I feel like a lot of stuff went right for us today, but we can’t dwell on it,” Lenoir added. “We got to bounce back. We’re 3-1 in the division, ready to take it over still.”
### Can the 49ers Offense Improve?
Given the injuries to several key players, Lenoir and the defense have endured a tough stretch. Because of that, Kittle feels the offense must take charge in the coming weeks.
He’s confident that if they perform to their potential, the offense can help keep the team on track while the defense recovers.
The offense showed promise in the win over the Rams earlier, putting up 26 points as Mac Jones threw for more than 300 yards. But Kittle still sees plenty of room for improvement.
“I mean, we started the game off with a punt, a fumble, a fourth-down turnover, a touchdown, and a punt,” Kittle said. “Since I’ve been back, our team is going to have to rely on our really good veteran offense to score a lot of points and not turn the ball over.”
He continued, “We didn’t really do that today, so that’s going to be the case moving forward. Our offense has to play at an incredibly high level. We have to score a lot of points, and we have to not turn the ball over.”
Kittle remains hopeful about the defense’s progress. “I think our defense is going to get better and better throughout the weeks because we still have a lot of young guys, and a lot of guys missing. But we have to help out our defense. That’s just the way the season’s going to go.”
“Our offense has to play at a high level — be efficient, not turn the ball over, score points, and score in the red zone,” Kittle concluded. “Then we’ll win a lot of games. But if we’re not doing that, that’s going to happen.”
https://heavy.com/sports/nfl/san-francisco-49ers/george-kittle-reacts-after-loss-rams/