SANTA CLARA — Only a 49ers season this maddening could make Sunday’s victory so tough to secure, even after parlaying George Kittle’s 210 receiving yards into a 20-0 halftime lead.
Their eventual 20-14 win over the Denver Broncos did not hinder the 49ers’ position atop next year’s draft board, and it certainly provided a morale boost for a flailing franchise that had lost its past three and 10 of 12 before Sunday’s stunner.
This game will be remembered for Kittle’s first-half outburst, even though somber feelings followed in the postgame locker room, with coach Kyle Shanahan dedicating the win to Tony York, the 49ers owners’ youngest son who died unexpectedly Friday at age 35.
“The true fan he was for the Niners always was so fun to watch, and for us to have the win today with what happened to him yesterday, it means a ton,” Shanahan said.
Setting up the 49ers for success was Kittle’s biggest game of a breakout season by the second-year, Pro Bowl-worthy play maker.
All seven of Kittle’s receptions came before halftime and he finished 5 yards shy of breaking Shannon Sharpe’s single-game record for tight ends, set in 2002 when Sharpe also played for a Shanahan, that being Kyle’s father, Mike, on the Broncos.
Kittle became the first 49ers tight end to eclipse the 1,000-yard mark in a season, doing so in flamboyant style on an 85-yard touchdown catch-and-run that gave the 49ers a 13-0 lead.
“He was open every play, man. It was crazy,” Nick Mullens said. “Every receiver was open. That’s why I give coaches so much credit.”
Shanahan noted that he was “like a fan” and wanted Kittle to break’s Sharpe record.
“The thing he’s done better than any tight end I’ve had is what he does after the catch,” Kyle Shanahan said. “When the ball is in the air, the play is just starting. He runs angry and confident he’s going to score.”
Mullens snapped out of his three-game funk and did more than capitalize on Kittle’s hands. Mullens passed for 332 yards, his second-most in five starts and a solid encore to last Sunday’s 414-yard outburst at Seattle.
Mullens helped clinch the win with gutsy, third-down conversions to Dante Pettis (31 yards) and Trent Taylor (6 yards) in the final minutes. That drive ate up 3:48, but Mullens’ errantly took his kneel-down snap too soon, allowing the Broncos a final play that mercifully went awry with a fumble out of bounds at the 49ers’ 40.
Vying for a wild-card playoff berth, Broncos (6-7) did not find a threatening rhythm until the second half, when they began pouncing on a 49ers defense that couldn’t hold fourth-quarter leads in four losses earlier this season.
Case Keenum, after three consecutive incompletions from the 1, threw a fourth-down touchdown pass to DaeSean Hamilton with 3:53 remaining to pull within 20-14. That score overshadowed earlier fourth-quarter stops by Cassius Marsh and Marcell Harris on the Broncos’ previous two possessions.
After next hosting the Seattle Seahawks and Chicago Bears, the 49ers finish the season — their fifth straight out of the playoffs — on Dec. 30 at the NFC West-champion Los Angeles Rams.
KEY IMPRESSIONS
KITTLE COUNT: Kittle had only one pass thrown to him after halftime, the result of not necessarily the Broncos covering him better but also putting more hits on Mullens.
Kittle opened with a 5-yard reception on the 49ers’ initial snap, after which he said two Broncos quizzed him: “Why are you catching the ball so early, already?” Then came a 31-yarder. Then 6 yards, then 52, then 85. He wasn’t done with the half until 13- and 18-yard receptions in the final minute set up another 49ers touchdown, that being a 1-yard strike from Mullens to Dante Pettis for a 20-0 lead.
Add it all up and his 210 receiving yards raised Kittle’s season total to 1,103 yards — with an entire half and three more games to go. Vernon Davis previously held the franchise record for single-season yards by a tight end, with 965 yards in 2009.
Left tackle Joe Staley was on that team and said Kittle’s athleticism is similar to Davis’. Kittle noted he sees Davis’ name on a plaque every day outside the tight ends’ room, adding: “To shoot for the record is fun, and it’s great coach Shanahan allows me to do that.”
Kittle’s 85-yard touchdown catch tied for the seventh-longest pass play in 49ers history (Jim Plunkett to Delvin Williams), and the longest since Tim Rattay connected on an 85-yard pass to Brandon Lloyd in 2005. Kittle is the first 49er with 1,000 receiving yards since wide receiver Anquan Boldin had 1,062 yards in 2014. Among his first-half heroics: Kittle drew three defensive-holding penalties, to which Kittle quipped: “I should get yards for that.”
LUCKY BREAKS: The ball bounced the 49ers way more than any other game this season. “We got some really cool bounces today,” Richard Sherman said. For example:
— On a pass tipped at the line, Staley caught it and celebrated accordingly after his third career reception, even if it was for minus-5 yards.
— The 49ers did not lose any of their three fumbles, and Marquise Goodwin had a potential fumble in Broncos territory nullified by the Broncos’ third defensive holding penalty. Of the other three fumbles, Goodwin had one go out of bounds, Richie James recovered his own on a muffed punt return (unlike last week’s muffed-punt turnover in Seattle) and Jeff Wilson Jr. had his pounced on by teammate Kendrick Bourne.
— Von Miller was due to beat Mike McGlinchey around the edge for a sack of Mullens, and when it happened, Mullens at least didn’t fumble and the 49ers then safetly punted.
YOUNG STUDS: The 49ers defense did its part in solidifying a first-half shutout. But then came the second half, and the defense showed signs of a familiar collapse. Fourth-down stops by Marsh and Harris shouldn’t be overlooked considering how this game came down to one score — and it wasn’t over until the Broncos’ final play resulted in a backward pass out of bounds.
Harris was one of four rookie starters on defense, joining linebacker Fred Warner, nose tackle D.J. Jones and nickel back D.J. Reed. Harris’ highlights came on back-to-back plays, first with a tackle-for-loss on third down and then a fourth-down stop on a reception. Reed came through a with third-down sack on the first series after halftime.
“At the end of the day, we’re all grown men and professionals who do our job,” Harris said.
Offensively, the 49ers also got positive results from its first-year players, including Mullens, McGlinchey, Pettis and running back Jeff Wilson Jr., who had 90 rushing yards in his first start. Pettis said of the last-drive, third-down conversion that barely floated over two Broncos: “I saw it floating and I was like, ‘Dude, please get over these guys.’ I thought they’d tip it, so I was waiting, and when they didn’t, I was like, ‘OK, perfect.’ ”
SPECIAL TEAMS IMPROVE: Robbie Gould, who made 13 consecutive field-goal attempts entering Sunday’s game, connected on 40- and 29-yard attempts to stake the 49ers to a 6-0 lead. Not to be lost among all this was that Gould and punter Bradley Pinion were working with a new snapper, Colin Holba, who replaced the suspended Kyle Nelson.
Tarvarius Moore and Greg Mabin made outstanding tackles on the 49ers kickoff-coverage unit, and they combined on one to pin the Broncos at their own 8 on a third-quarter punt return. Moore did have an illegal block on a second-half kickoff return.
