As football fans try and catch their collective breath after an amazing NFL divisional round, thoughts are starting to turn to the AFC and NFC Championship games and how each of the four teams remaining can advance.
To do that, it helps to look at each of the four teams and highlight potential problems they present for their opponents. For the Los Angeles Rams, one of the things they will need to worry about when the San Francisco 49ers have the football, in addition to Deebo Samuel and the creative ways the 49ers structure their offense, is tight end George Kittle.
Kittle has been a thorn in the side of the Rams for his entire NFL career. In nine games against the organization, Kittle has caught 49 passes for 706 yards and five touchdowns, so you can bet the Rams will be focused on where #85 is on every play Sunday evening.
Part of what makes Kittle dangerous is how effective he is when presented with opportunities to stress defenders to both the inside and the outside in space. The 49ers provide Kittle with these opportunities as much as possible, and the results are often positive for the offense.
In the first half of Saturday night’s win over the Green Bay Packers, Kittle worked himself open on this quick slant route, working against Preston Smith in space. You can see how Kittle’s alignment in the slot, and the fear of a route breaking to the outside, combine to stress the leverage of the defender and give Kittle a path to cut inside on the slant for a quick read and throw from Jimmy Garoppolo:
The tight end releases vertically off the line, and gets into Smith’s frame after three steps. Kittle then drives his left foot into the turf, and Smith responds by opening his hips to the sideline, ever-so-slightly. That is all that Kittle needs to break to the inside and cross the defender’s face, working himself open to the inside after stressing Smith’s leverage to the outside.
All the while, Garoppolo is just waiting for Kittle to make his break.
Now, you are probably thinking this completion is due to the matchup, which is a fair point. “Let me see Kittle do this against someone with better coverage skills, Mark.”
Okay.
On this play, Kittle is working against cornerback Eric Stokes. As with the previous example, the same scenario plays out on this completion. Kittle releases vertically, gets into Stokes’ frame, stresses his outside leverage with a hard step in that direction with his right foot, and then works across the cornerback’s face to get open for the quick throw from Garoppolo.
As the Rams begin their preparations for this weekend, crafting a plan for Kittle, and in particular these routes from the tight end, should be at or near the top of the to-do list.