Adding Kittle will spice up offense
SANTA CLARA » Tight end George Kittle was the key ingredient missing from the 49ers’ overtime loss to Seattle on Nov. 11.
Some may argue it was not having kicker Robbie Gould, because rookie fill-in Chase McLaughin missed a potential game-winner in overtime. Some may argue wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders’ early exit with a rib injury was a deciding factor.
Kittle was kept out with knee and ankle injuries, and he said it was “brutal” to watch upstairs in a Levi’s Stadium suite as the previously unbeaten 49ers fell 27-24.
“I just love football, and any game, especially a night game, was tough to miss,” Kittle recalled Thursday. “Luckily, I don’t have to miss this one.”
The 49ers ( 12- 3) will take on the Seahawks (114) again in a prime-time matchup Sunday night. The NFC West title is at stake, and, for the 49ers, they also can clinch the NFC playoffs’ No. 1 seed with a win that would be their first in Seattle since 2011.
Seahawks coach Pete Carroll is on full alert for Kittle’s potential impact.
“The fact he’s back, they
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have their focal- point player in the program, and that causes issues and concerns,” Carroll said on a conference call. “We won’t be able to play them the way we played them last time. We have to do things much differently because he’s in the game.”
Kittle, despite missing two games, leads the 49ers with 78 catches for 967 yards and five touchdowns.
“He’s the top player on the team. He’s everything,” Carroll added. “They can build the whole game around him. He’s grown and become an extraordinary player. We hope we can match up somehow.”
Kittle is thirsty to soak in Seattle’s atmosphere, saying: “It’s definitely one of my favorite stadiums to play in, because the crowd is such a factor and it’s so much fun.”
His first career road game was there — a 12- 9 loss on Sept. 17, 2017 — and he produced 70 yards on six catches in last season’s 43-16 loss at Seattle. What’s next?
“It’s not just another game,” Kittle said. “This game has some high stakes to it, but we’re preparing like we do every week.”
• Richard Sherman didn’t dare apologize for his feistiness back in his Seattle Seahawks days when facing the 49ers. In fact, he more than double downed on his bitterness toward then- coach Jim Harbaugh.
Now in his second season since defecting to the 49ers, Sherman was asked to reflect on that 49ers- Seahawks rivalry, and the topic promptly turned to the Sherman- Harbaugh rivalry.
“I meant every single word of that, and I meant it to Harbaugh,” Sherman said. “We’ve had our history. I don’t regret it. I second that, maybe more.”
Sherman famously and loudly crowed after the 2013 Seahawks downed the 49ers in the NFC Championship Game, ending the 49ers’ three-year playoff run.
Sherman didn’t specify what “bad blood” he has with Harbaugh, but some examples are out in the open, whether they trace from their Stanford days or the Seahawks- 49ers rivalry when Harbaugh was the 49ers’ coach from 201114.
For instance, after that NFC title win, Sherman and teammate Earl Thomas claimed to Yahoo! Sports’ Mike Silver that Harbaugh honked his car’s horn at the Seahawks’ bus after a 49ers’ home win in the regular season; Harbaugh later disputed that allegation.
• Rookie Nick Bosa has nine sacks, and despite only two in his past eight games, he believes the 49ers’ pass rush is still impacting offenses. Echoing the evidence defensive coordinator Robert Saleh offered earlier Thursday, Bosa said the Rams resorted to 21 bootleg plays and 12 screen passes last Saturday, adding: “Obviously that’s not their normal approach, and obviously we won the game.”
Bosa and the 49ers also must stop a Seahawks rushing attack that’s added Marshawn Lynch for his first carries this season.
“My brother (Joey, on the Los Angeles Chargers) told me he’s one of the hardest guys to tackle,” Bosa said. “We’ll see if he’s still got it, which I’m sure he does.”
Back when Lynch and the Seahawks vied for NFC supremacy with the 49ers in their last playoff season of 2013, Bosa rooted for the 49ers, or, at least against Seattle.
“I kind of was a Seahawk hater, for some reason,” Bosa said. “They kind of had the arrogance, ‘ Legion of Boom’ going on. Obviously things have changed. Sherm’s on my team now, and I love him.”
• Saleh did not hesitate when asked how he’s weighing whether to keep Ahkello Witherspoon at right cornerback or replace him with Emmanuel Moseley.
“We’ve got full confidence in Ahkello,” Saleh said. “I know he’s not happy with the way he played. I know we’re not overly excited about it, but he still played, before he got hurt, still played at a very, very high level. There’s some things that he can clean up, and he knows he can clean up. I’ve got faith that he’s going to come out and play a really good game.”
• Wide receiver Deebo Samuel (shoulder) remained in a no- contact jersey but didn’t seem inhibited in the early portion of practice. Garoppolo has targeted Samuel 43 times over the past seven games, and they connected on 8- of-11 passes for 112 yards in last month’s loss to Seattle.
Strong safety Jaquiski Tartt (ribs) remains limited in his first practices this week since getting hurt Dec. 1 at Baltimore. His projected status will be revealed this afternoon, but he could be a game-time decision in what coach Kyle Shanahan described as a pain-tolerance issue.
Defensive end Dee Ford ( hamstring) is expected to be ruled out for the fifth time in six games, and the only exception was a foursnap cameo Dec. 8 at New Orleans in which he aggravated his Nov. 17 hamstring injury. He has not practiced since that game.
Right guard Mike Person (neck) practiced in limited fashion, but Daniel Brunskill still could be in line to make his second straight start at that spot. Linebacker Azeez Al- Shaair ( knee) and defensive tackle Jullian Taylor (elbow, knee) were limited. Cornerback Tarvarius Moore (concussion) is fully cleared.
The Seahawks again practiced without left tackle Duane Brown ( knee), safety Quandre Diggs (ankle), guard Mike Iupati (neck) and wide receiver Malik Turner (concussion). Defensive end Jadeveon Clowney (core) was limited but vowed to Seattle reporters that he would play.
• 49ers fans have swarmed away games this year, perhaps more than any over the past decade, and Sunday night should be no exception. In fact, the “Seattle Niners Faithful” fan club expects a record crowd to greet the 49ers at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport upon the team’s arrival, at approximately 3:30 p.m. Saturday. Some 300 fans greeted the 49ers at the airport ahead of the 2014 NFC Championship Game.