This is not the news the 49ers hoped to hear this morning.
George Kittle, who missed all three days of practice this week with a sprained ankle, is “highly unlikely” to play tonight against the Chicago Bears, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter. This will be the sixth game of the season that Kittle has missed.
And it should come as no surprise that most likely will sit out this game. He’s 32, and his ankle is injured. He can’t magically gut it out at his age. We’ll have to see if he can recover quickly enough to play next week against the Seahawks.
Kittle got injured on Monday night in Indianapolis as the result of what he called a hip-drop tackle, which is illegal, although the NFL did not fine the defender for the play. Apparently, the league office disagreed with Kittle’s assessment.
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The good news for the 49ers is that they already have clinched a playoff spot. The bad news is that it’s going to be extremely difficult for them to get the No. 1 seed without Kittle, because Brock Purdy is a completely different quarterback when Kittle isn’t on the field.
In Purdy’s career, he has played just three full games without Kittle. The 49ers lost all three games and never scored more than 24 points in any of them. We’re talking about an offense that is averaging more than 32 points per game with Purdy and Kittle on the field together this season.
The connection between Purdy and Kittle is nearly unstoppable. When Purdy throws to Kittle this season, Purdy’s passer rating is 154.9. When he doesn’t throw to Kittle, his passer rating is 89.9, which is pedestrian. For context, Caleb Williams’ passer rating this season is 89.5.
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So the 49ers won’t necessarily have the better passing game tonight. They also probably won’t have the better running game, considering the 49ers struggle to run the ball without Kittle’s elite blocking and the Bears have the third-ranked rushing attack in the NFL this season.
Which means the 49ers most likely will lose to the Bears in Week 17. That’s how important Kittle is to Purdy. But even if the 49ers lose tonight, that doesn’t mean the 49ers would lose to the Bears if they were to meet again in the playoffs. Because when Kittle is healthy, the 49ers are a different team and Purdy is a different quarterback. He’s Superman when he can throw to No. 85.
The rest of the time, Purdy is Clark Kent.
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