It looked more like a one-man game of hot potato than a football play, but George Kittle provided a spark for the San Francisco 49ers with a frenzied effort that few could replicate.
Brock Purdy rifled the ball from deep in San Francisco territory, connecting with the right mitt of Kittle. The ball then bounced off his facemask, and the fingertips of his left hand, before he finally corralled it to safety.
Sunday’s matchup between the 49ers and Dallas Cowboys was a good ol’ fashioned rock fight, and Kittle proved he’s got some serious stones.
A handful of plays after Kittle’s circus catch, he drew a defensive holding call in the red zone to erase a sack. Three plays after that, San Fran scored the decisive touchdown.
It’s fair to view Kittle as No. 3 in the 49ers’ playmaking pecking order — behind Christian McCaffrey and Deebo Samuel — but this game belonged to the long-haired, wild-eyed tight end. While McCaffrey and Samuel combined for fewer than five yards per touch, Kittle romped his way to five catches for 95 yards.
Maybe the lesson here is the 49ers can find a way to beat you even if Plans A and B aren’t working out.
With the NFL’s divisional round now concluded, here are the rest of our takeaways from Sunday.
Dak disappoints in San Fran … again
If you’re a quarterback and you’re drawing comparisons to Aaron Rodgers, that’s usually a good thing. But Rodgers is famously 0-4 in the playoffs against the 49ers — and now Dak Prescott is halfway to the same fate.
Prescott threw for just 206 yards on 37 attempts, tossing a pair of interceptions and one touchdown in Dallas' second playoff loss to San Francisco in as many seasons. His cumulative passer rating in those matchups is 66.7.
In a game that featured just two touchdowns, every turnover is amplified. Interceptions were a major problem for Prescott this season, too, as he tied for the league lead (15) despite only playing in 12 games.
How quickly we all forget about Prescott’s near-perfect showing against the Buccaneers last week. When Tony Pollard exited Sunday with a high ankle sprain, the game rested firmly in Prescott’s hands. He literally and figuratively threw it away.
Ironically, consecutive Cowboys seasons have ended with the same confounding visual: Prescott attempting an ill-fated comeback against the 49ers as time expires.
Last year, the quarterback bumped into an official and failed to clock the ball in the dying seconds. This year, he took a snap from Ezekiel Elliott (not a typo) and threw an in-route that fell a mere 68 yards short of the end zone.
A win was all but impossible by then, but that’s the point. And the problem.
Joe and steady wins the race
Snowy Buffalo is a world away from swampy Baton Rouge, but Joe Burrow looked like a guy reliving his college glory days Sunday. Burrow led a hyper-efficient Cincinnati Bengals offence all game long, squeezing the life out of the Buffalo Bills one lengthy drive at a time.
Fittingly, ex-LSU teammate Ja’Marr Chase was Burrow’s target when the Bengals drew first blood.
On eight drives (excluding their kneel-down possession at the end), the Bengals didn’t have a single three-and-out. They pushed the ball past their own 40-yard line every time and averaged 6.0 yards per play.
Cincinnati also logged a staggering 30 first downs. Across 272 regular season games this year, that only happened 10 times.
Two of those instances came courtesy of this Bengals team, which isn’t surprising when you consider the weapons.
The primary playmakers are Burrow and Chase, who are on their way to the Pro Bowl — unless they make it to the Super Bowl, of course. Then there’s Tee Higgins (over 1,000 receiving yards) and Joe Mixon (over 1,200 scrimmage yards).
With snow falling, Cincinnati’s offence didn’t slow down. Instead, the Bengals proved they have enough offensive firepower to keep up in the AFC’s arms race.
And after toppling the league’s No. 2 offence in Buffalo, the Bengals will meet the No. 1 offence in Kansas City for next week’s AFC Championship. Giddy up.
Allen under pressure
Judging offensive line performance is often a tricky enterprise, but the pressure on Josh Allen was palpable.
Allen was only sacked once, which is a credit to his shiftiness and, frankly, his size. But there’s more to the story than that. The 6-foot-5 quarterback was often running for his life, feeling the heat from an active Cincinnati front.
According to Next Gen Stats, Allen was pressured almost twice as often as Burrow. Allen’s 68.1 passer rating (with zero touchdowns and one interception) indicates that he didn’t handle it well.
To add further context to Allen’s 39.5 per cent pressure rate, consider that the Titans allowed an NFL-high 27.5 per cent pressure rate this season.
Some credit belongs to Sam Hubbard, Trey Hendrickson and co. on Cincy’s defensive line, but perhaps this performance will inspire Buffalo to invest further in its offensive line.
The Bills allocated $35.3 million to their o-line this year, which ranked 21st in the NFL, according to Spotrac.
In five drafts during Allen’s tenure, they’ve only selected one offensive lineman in the top two rounds. That player, Cody Ford, was flipped for a fifth-round pick in August.
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