George Kittle stars as the 49ers escape with a SNF win over the Cowboys

SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Entering Sunday’s game against the Dallas Cowboys, the San Francisco 49ers had won 72 straight games and led by more than 17 points entering the fourth quarter.

After forcing a three-pointer early in the fourth quarter on Sunday night, it appeared the Niners would extend that streak to 73 with relative ease.

They got it done in the end, but the fact that they had to grind out a 30-24 win instead of a convincing win raised some alarm bells for a team that had held double-digit fourth-quarter leads twice this season .

“I was frustrated,” linebacker Fred Warner said. “We made it a play when we didn’t need to, especially defensively. Freebies, you know, where they didn’t have to earn it… We can’t let it happen, so we put ourselves in this situation.” So we had to go out and finish the game.

In less than five minutes of play, the Niners saw their lead shrink from 27-10 to 30-24. The 49ers took the lead with a three-pointer after Dallas receiver CeeDee Lamb scored an easy 20-yard touchdown to give the Cowboys the ball and a chance to win with 3:05 left.

On the sideline, an angry Warner let his defensive teammates know that the miscommunications and botched coverages that allowed Dallas to quickly get back into the game were unacceptable. Thoughts of previous disappointments in losses to the Arizona Cardinals and Los Angeles Rams ran through their minds.

This time, however, the 49ers’ defense bent over backwards, forcing four straight incompletions from Dak Prescott to get the ball back and put the game away.

“Really, our captain (Warner), he just expressed to us that this isn’t going to happen again and we’re going to win this game on defense,” cornerback Deommodore Lenoir said. “That was a great testament to our graduation. What we’ve had to do all season.”

But for the Niners to be able to even out their 4-4 record, much of the onus Sunday night fell on an offense that was trying to put up points without injured stars like running back Christian McCaffrey (Achilles tendonitis) and receiver Brandon Aiyuk (torn cruciate ligament and cruciate ligament in right knee) and Jauan Jennings (hip).

As if that wasn’t enough, San Francisco lost running back Jordan Mason to a left shoulder injury and receiver Deebo Samuel to a rib injury during the game. That put all eyes on star tight end George Kittle, who was dealing with a sprained ankle that limited him from practice all week and left him questionable for the game.

Despite Kittle’s obvious importance to the offense, he still managed to put together a great performance in a game the Niners needed to deliver. It also happened to be on the “holiday” Kittle invented in 2019 that celebrates those who play his favorite position: tight end.

“He’s a warrior,” defensive end Nick Bosa said. “There are a lot of guys in this league who wouldn’t play through the things he does every year. And him playing the best tight end in the league on National Tight End Day while fighting things just shows how much of it. “He’s a beast.”

Kittle finished the game with six catches for 128 yards and a touchdown, reaching the 100-yard mark for the 18th time in his career, the third-most 100-yard receiving game by a player in franchise history.

Additionally, Kittle reached 500 career receptions, which placed him fifth in franchise history in that category and passed Gene Washington and Dwight Clark to move into third place on the franchise’s all-time receiving yards list (6,777) to climb. He trails only Jerry Rice and Terrell Owens.

“(I’m) just thankful that I got to be part of an organization that has a very high standard in the way they play football,” Kittle said. “Grateful that they kept me for so long and strive every day to be better than before and continue to prove that I need to be on the San Francisco 49ers roster.”

Including the playoffs, the win was San Francisco’s fourth straight against Dallas, its longest streak against the Cowboys since six straight wins from 1981 to 1990.

Now they’re looking at a much-needed bye that they hope will see key players like McCaffrey, Jennings and kicker Jake Moody (sprained right ankle) return to the roster in time for their Nov. 10 clash with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

The additional downtime is also expected to be beneficial for the 49ers, who suffered injuries Sunday including Mason, Samuel, cornerback Renardo Green (ankle) and linebacker Dee Winters (concussion).

By the time they get back to business, the Niners could also have some new additions. Since Shanahan and general manager John Lynch took over in 2017, the 49ers have made at least one trade before the deadline in every season except 2018.

With the deadline set for November 5th, the 49ers are expected to once again look for reinforcements, particularly along the defensive line.

Whatever the case, the 49ers are hoping that Sunday’s narrow win, combined with the impending time off, will be the recipe that propel them to another strong postseason success.

“We can be whoever we want,” Warner said. “Honestly, I think it’s 0-0 after the bye. We’re at .500 right now. I think we’re one game away from the top of the division… but we still have everything to do.”