Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll took notice of the San Francisco 49ers' second-year tight end, George Kittle, who caught the ball six times for 70 yards during the two teams' first meeting two weeks ago.
We all know what Kittle did the next week. He had a historically good game, hauling in seven passes for an impressive 210 yards with a touchdown during the 49ers' 20-14 victory over the Denver Broncos.
It's needless to say that Kittle will be an even bigger focus for the Seahawks defense this week when the teams meet for the second time in three weeks.
"He lit it up against Denver, so if we didn't know, we sure do now," Carroll told Bay Area reporters via a conference call on Wednesday. "He was almost targeted twice as much as everyone else going into our game so that obviously hasn't changed. But what a fantastic game he had last week."
What impresses Carroll about Kittle?
"George is a really good mover. He's quick," Carroll answered. "We've all seen him catch and run with the ball and be difficult to tackle in the open field. He just has a real good package. His quickness, his strength, he's elusive. He's playing as good as any tight end in football."
Kittle now has 69 receptions for 1,103 yards with four touchdowns this season. He has more receiving yards than any tight end in franchise history, and is on pace to break Rob Gronkowski's record for most single-season receiving yards by a tight end. Of course, so is Travis Kelce of the Kansas City Chiefs, who may get there first. He has 1,159 receiving yards this season.
For Kittle, a lot of his success is due to head coach Kyle Shanahan finding a variety of ways to get him open and get the football to him. Kittle is even more impressive with the football already in his hands. No tight end in the league has more yards after the catch this season than Kittle's 715.
"I think [Shanahan has] recognized the versatility that George has, and he's just utilized it really well," Carroll explained. "Just when you look at the highlights of last week's game, the variety of places that he caught the football and the styles of routes and all, it was totally spread across the board. I think that's just Kyle's ingenuity and creativity that helps a player like Kittle do so well."
The 49ers and Seahawks kick off on Sunday from Levi's Stadium at 1:05 p.m. PT.