Final four teams in NFL playoffs rely heavily on tight ends

Few people proselytize about the importance of tight ends more than San Francisco’s George Kittle.

He helped the NFL create a “holiday” to honor the position each October and launched the annual Tight End University where scores of players gather to share tips of the trade.

So Kittle showed no surprise about the fact that the four teams playing on championship weekend all rely heavily on the tight end in the passing game.

“That they do,” he said with a smile.

Whether it’s a first-team All-Pro like Kittle or the record-setting, celebrity dating Travis Kelce of Kansas City or a prolific rookie like Detroit’s Sam LaPorta — or Baltimore’s dynamic duo of Mark Andrews and Isaiah Likely — tight ends will be a focal point of the offenses on Sunday.

“I feel like if you look back at most of the last Super Bowl winners, every team has a very, very talented tight end that they use, whether that’s [the] run game or the pass game,” Kittle said. “Tight ends give you the ability to mismatch whether it’s on linebackers or safeties. If you want to use two guys to cover them, it doesn’t matter. It opens up other people. If you have someone that can dominate the middle of the field, it makes it a lot easier on the quarterback.”

Kittle was the most productive player at the position this season with his 1,020 yards receiving leading the way among tight ends. He earned his second career first-team All-Pro selection.

While San Francisco has an offense filled with playmakers like Christian McCaffrey, Deebo Samuel and Brandon Aiyuk, Kittle’s ability to make big plays down the field in the passing game and dominate on the line of scrimmage as a blocker in the run game is a major part of the success.

“I’ve got a lot of respect for the way he plays the game, man,” said Lions coach Dan Campbell, a former NFL tight end. “He’s high energy, he does it all, he’s an aggressive blocker, he’s strong, he’s physical, he’s good in pass protection, he’s an explosive route runner, creates separation,…

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Publish date : 2024-01-26 20:37:33

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