Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce set a new NFL record for receiving yards by a tight end on Sunday afternoon. He held onto that record for about 30 minutes before San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle set a new mark with 1,377 receiving yards this past season.
Kittle and the 49ers offense got the ball back with 2:37 remaining in the game. Quarterback Nick Mullens targeted his tight end twice.
That was all it took.
Needing three more yards to surpass Kelce's new mark, Kittle took the second reception 43 yards and into the end zone.
"My position coach definitely and some of the other guys were giving me little updates here and there (toward the end)," Kittle said after the game. "Definitely going into that last drive, they said, 'Hey, you need nine yards.' I said, 'I'll just take it into the end zone, I guess.'"
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That almost didn't happen, though. It looked like the 49ers might not get another opportunity on offense with the Rams looking to run down the clock.
Head coach Kyle Shanahan explained at length on Monday what transpired on the sideline to get Kittle the record.
"To watch our defense there in the second half, a bunch of guys are going out, a bunch of guys are really banged up and having to just play through it," Shanahan said. "And [the Rams] are just trying to run it down their throat just to end the game, and they have such a big lead. I'm watching our guys, and there's not much left."
That was when Shanahan and the coaches called over a couple of players and explained the situation.
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"They are not aware at the time, but (I said), 'Hey, guys, if you can stop them here, we will throw the ball if we need to get Kittle nine more yards. We'll get it to him if you guys can stop them,'" Shanahan said. "To say that to the guys, and to watch everyone, and to watch [Antone Exum Jr.] just blitz on his own, and just to do whatever they could because once we said that to them, you could see it in their eyes.
"Everyone on the bench was yelling for it, and stopping them on that fourth down; it was a big moment. [Losing] was a bad feeling. There wasn't much to be happy with, but when the guys saw that, you see that energy turn up and watch them fight to give Kittle that opportunity.
"It was such a good feeling to give Kittle what he deserved. But, he couldn't have done it without the defense, too. Everyone really enjoyed that and felt good about it."
