Speaking to reporters this week, San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle revealed some of the early scouting tactics his team uses to prepare for games, including Monday’s game against the Detroit Lions.
49ers players are provided with a spreadsheet ranking teams in the NFL. Blue indicates a team is in the top five or ten, while red indicates they are in the bottom ten. Kittle noted that the Lions showed blue in all offensive categories as they praised their offense and defense.
“That means it’s a very awesome offense,” Kittle told reporters. “(Jared) Goff is playing really well. The receivers all play at a high level. The running back is playing well. The O-line is fantastic. Big fan of their center, Frank (Ragnow), has been to a few Pro Bowls with him. Great guy.
“And then their defense, even though they’ve had a ton of injuries, they’re still playing at their level and they were able to add Za’Darius Smith before the trade deadline. Linebackers are still playing well. All their secondary players are playing well.”
The Lions and 49ers meet Monday in a rematch of last season’s NFC title game at Levi’s Stadium. After leading by 17 points at halftime, the Lions failed to advance to their first Super Bowl, losing 34–31.
Earlier this week, Lions head coach Dan Campbell said he and his team are looking forward to the game, highlighting the feelings in the locker room following the January loss.
Kittle is fully aware of Detroit’s motivation heading into Monday’s game and acknowledged it starts at the top.
“They believe in what Coach Campbell talks about every day,” Kittle said. “So they’re coming in this week, and I think we’re all very aware that they think they gave us one last year, and I think they’re going to do everything they can to get in here and to beat us. with 30 points. And it’s our job not to let them do that. And actually, I fully expect us to win. I go into every game expecting to win a football game. If you expect to lose, I think you’re going to lose anyway.”
Reporters followed up on Kittle’s comments and asked him his opinion of the Lions’ coach.
“I think when you have a head coach who has played and the way he played, he was very rough, quite a nasty player, but he was loved by all his teammates. I think it’s very easy to play for guys like that,” Kittle said. “Because I don’t think you can see all the clips and his original press conferences, like the kneecap biting and stuff like that. I think even though that might look funny to people on the outside, I think once you get to know him and you find out who he is, I think people love that.
“And I think he seems like a very easy guy to play for, and he seems like a guy who – they have hard practices, he makes them grind, makes them earn every second, but you want people like that to put you on a keep it broken. standard, and that’s a standard that they’ve created and that he’s created since they’ve been around. And it’s really great to see that the Lions have succeeded, but our job is to take them down a little bit.
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