George Kittle’s career has been defined by his ability to turn his runs after catch look like a big brother wrestling with his younger siblings. He regularly drags and runs over tacklers while picking up extra yards.
That ability helped put the 49ers in range for a game-winning field goal Sunday in New Orleans. In fact, there’s not a better encapsulation of what Kittle does to NFL defenses than this screenshot from the highlight of his run:
This is the quintessential George Kittle screenshot. pic.twitter.com/zYORAKcaqG
— Kyle Madson (@KyleAMadson) December 8, 2019
Safety Marcus Williams was there first. He’s invisible behind Kittle in that photo. Williams was flagged for a face mask on the play.
Safety Vonn Bell gave it a try to no avail. He might’ve been trying to strip the ball out, but wound up going for a ride instead.
Had cornerback CJ Gardner-Johnson not gotten involved, Kittle might’ve dragged the two defensive backs all the way to the end zone. Gardner-Johnson had to finally leap onto Kittle’s back though, which is what we see in this screenshot. He rode Kittle for a couple yards before the big tight end finally went down under the weight of three tacklers.
There have been a ton of remarkable plays in Kittle’s career. His run Sunday in New Orleans might’ve been the best.