Freddie Falcon
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- Mar 16, 2019
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A week after the 49ers generated 48 points in New Orleans, San Francisco’s offense sputtered in its first home game in three weeks. One of the big problems was the lack of production from the team’s receivers.
Not pass catchers; tight end George Kittle had 13 catches for 134 yards. But the wide receivers didn’t do much.
“You don’t just call plays that say ‘Go to Kittle,'” coach Kyle Shanahan said, via NBCSportsBayArea.com. “You might want to start there and if they don’t double him, he usually gets it because he usually wins, and if not you progress. There are a number of plays we try to get to other people, but Kittle got the majority of it.”
Quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo targeted Kittle on 17 of 34 throws. Receiver Emmanuel Sanders was targeted four times, catching two passes for nine yards. Receiver Deebo Samuel had three balls thrown his way, catching only one for 29. Receiver Kendrick Bourne caught one pass for 11 yards on two targets.
Two other receivers — Richie James and Dante Pettis — did nothing. Pettis didn’t even play.
Sanders and Samuel recently had done much more than what they did on Sunday. The 49ers will need them to do plenty in order to nail down the No. 1 seed, and in order to enjoy some success in the playoffs.