Addressing reporters this week, 49ers tight end George Kittle revealed some of the early scouting tactics his team uses in preparation for games, including Monday’s matchup against the Detroit Lions.
49ers players are given a spreadsheet that ranks teams across the NFL. Blue indicates a team is in the top five or 10, while red signals they’re in the bottom 10. Kittle noted that the Lions showed blue in all offensive categories when offering praise for their offense and defense.
“That means they’re a very awesome offense,” Kittle told reporters.
“(Jared) Goff’s playing really well. The receivers are all playing at a high level. The running back’s playing well. The O-line’s fantastic. Big fan of their center, Frank (Ragnow), been to a couple Pro Bowls with him. Awesome dude.
“And then their defense, even though they’ve had a crazy amount of injuries, they’re still playing up to their standard, and they were able to add Za’Darius Smith before the trade deadline. Linebackers are still playing well. All their secondary’s playing well.”
On Monday, the Lions and 49ers will meet in a rematch of last season’s NFC title game at Levi’s Stadium. After holding a 17-point lead at halftime, the Lions fell short of advancing to their first Super Bowl, losing 34-31.
Earlier this week, Lions head coach Dan Campbell shared that he and his team are looking forward to the game, highlighting the feelings within the locker room following the January loss.
Kittle is fully aware of Detroit’s motivation heading into Monday’s game and acknowledged that it starts at the top.
“They believe in what Coach Campbell is talking about every single day,” Kittle said.
“So they’re going to come in this week, and I think we’re all very aware that they think they gave us one last year, and I think they’re going to do everything they can to come in here and beat us by 30 points. And it’s our job to not let them do that. And actually, I fully expect us to win. I go into every single game expecting to win a football game. If you go in expecting to lose, I think you’re going to lose no matter what.”
Reporters followed up on Kittle’s remarks, asking him his opinion of the Lions’ coach.
“I think when you have a head coach who had played and the way that he played too—he was very gritty, kind of a nasty player, but he was beloved by all of his teammates. I think it’s really easy to play for guys like that,” Kittle said.
“Because I don’t think you can see all the clips and his original press conferences, like biting the kneecaps and stuff like that. I think that while people on the outside, that might look funny, I think once you get to know him and you find out that’s who he is, I think people love that.
“And I think he seems like a really easy guy to play for, and he seems like a guy who—they have hard practices, he makes them grind, makes them earn every second, but you want people like that to hold you to a standard, and that’s a standard that they’ve created and he’s created since they’ve been there. And it’s very awesome to see that the Lions have gotten to that, but it’s our job to take them down a little bit.”
