Getty The Rams defense close in on Christian McCaffrey on October 30, 2022 in Inglewood.
One rival of the Los Angeles Rams always has unique descriptions in describing their annual battles.
George Kittle of the San Francisco 49ers once described their matchups with the Rams as a “body bag game” in 2021, verbally illustrating how physical the contests between them are. Now, in an interview with “This past Weekend” hosted by comedian and podcaster Theo Von, the four-time Pro Bowl tight end gave new details of what it’s like to face the Rams — including who they truly game plan for first.
“So when you play the Rams, you have to game plan for Aaron Donald because if you only put one guy on him, the likelihood of him blowing up a play and hitting the running back or quarterback in the backfield and making him fumble significantly increases,” Kittle shared to the host. “So you have to completely game plan for him.”
But that’s not all. Then comes dealing with a Rams defense that, as Kittle described, tries to “bottleneck” you.
“And then the way they play their defense is, they just try to bottleneck us as much as they can so it makes our outside zone a little bit more difficult,” Kittle explained. “And then they play this kind of a quarters thing where they keep everything in front of them. It’s kind of bend but don’t break.”
Still, the Rams choose field violence when facing their rivals.
“You can give up some small stuff but you’re not gonna get anything past us and they’re gonna be very violent and they’re gonna come up in the run game,” Kittle said.
George Kittle Revealed Another Challenge in Facing the Rams
Donald isn’t the only threat Kittle has to deal with at tight end.
In years past, whoever is over “A.D” poses another challenge for him and the rival Niners.
“So playing a team like that where I’m in my three-point stance and the line of scrimmage is right here, they have an outside linebacker who’s wider than you are and in a tilted stance, like a sprinter’s stance, and the second we say hike, he’s trying to run right through my face as fast as he can, that way to not let me reach him,” he added.
Kittle had to deal with the likes of Von Miller, Leonard Floyd, Justin Hollins and Terrell Lewis in these sequences. All four now are gone — so the next time Kittle lines up against the Rams it’ll be a fresher set of edge rushers, with some analysts and fans believing it’ll be an even younger group of rushers.
Still, Kittle has noticed this look time and time again from the Rams and described it as difficult.
“And not every team does that but it’s very difficult to go against because at that point, it’s me kind of saying, ‘All right, who’s gonna hit who harder?’” Kittle said.
How Rams Fared vs. George Kittle in 2022
Before the 2022 season, Kittle delivered four career 100-yard games versus the Rams. The most recent was a 109-yard day against them on October 18, 2020.
From a receiving standpoint, though, the Rams have done their part in neutralizing Kittle including last season. Kittle caught no more than three receptions in both games and never surpassed 40 receiving yards.
However, Kittle was more of a factor in run blocking — helping pave the way for 88 and 111 rushing yards in both victories.
The Rams have only beaten a Kittle-led 49ers team four times in their 12 meetings. Now, the Rams will aim to topple him and the Niners to reclaim the NFC West title with a newer group.