George Kittle's mistimed troll job is big Super Bowl miss for 49ers

Maybe George Kittle does have a weakness after all.
Feb 11, 2024; Paradise, Nevada, USA;  San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle (85) runs with the
Feb 11, 2024; Paradise, Nevada, USA; San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle (85) runs with the / Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports
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Was a certain someone distracted by the presence of too many Georges on the field of play? Was it aided by the pressures of playing in the Super Bowl? Maybe he was just glad to have a temporarily positive moment—or so he thought—when getting trounced in positional comparisons with Travis Kelce.

Whatever it is, we're sure George Kittle wants this moment back.

Maybe George Kittle does have a weakness after all.

In case you missed it in the slow dissection of Super Bowl LVIII over the last week, Kittle committed a pretty big mistake for the San Francisco 49ers early in the game against the Kansas City Chiefs.

If you'll recall, the Niners were driving down the field in an impression fashion on the first series of the game only to run into the brick wall known as Leo Chenal, who forced a fumble of 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey. Here's the play for the sake of discussion:

That's a loose ball in the field of play just waiting for someone to get it. If the Niners are able to jump on it, they salvage a drive and likely protect their ability to come away with at least some point considering they were on K.C.'s 27-yard line. And instead of playing through the whistle, Kittle got caught up in the moment wanting to say hi to George Karlaftis for some unknown reason.

Guess which George came up with the football.

In a game in which both teams were knotted at a mere 19 apiece at the end of regulation, leaving any amount of points on the table was a losing proposition in Super Bowl 58. Maybe Kittle won't talk so much next time he's only going to catch 2 passes for 4 yards on the biggest stage of all.

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