This weekend will be the Cincinnati Bengals‘ third straight home game and it’ll come against the San Francisco 49ers, who are in a similar situation. Both teams are in tough divisions and currently No. 7 seeds in their respective conferences so a win this weekend would keep them on track to make the playoffs.
While the 49ers don’t necessarily scare me, tight end George Kittle does. I mean — Did you see this guy last week? He racked up 181 yards and two touchdowns off of nine catches and while the Niners still lost, Kittle almost singlehandedly won his team the game.
Kittle has proven that he’s a terrifying weapon and the Bengals’ defense might not be equipped to slow down the former Iowa standout. Jessie Bates is having a rough season and is coming off the worst game of his career. Also, Logan Wilson is going to miss this game after having to be carted off with an injury during the loss to the Chargers.
George Kittle has the ability to destroy the Bengals defense
Charlie Goldsmith of The Enquirer put together a list of how the tight ends have done against Cincy’s defense this season and for the most part, it’s been good. The only time the stripes have really been destroyed by a tight end was when Darren Waller went for 116 yards against them, otherwise, they’ve kept tight ends in check.
To show some of the work behind the numbers in this story, here’s how the Bengals have matched up on every target for an opposing No. 1 tight end.
— Charlie Goldsmith (@CharlieG__) December 8, 2021
Without Logan Wilson, the Bengals will have to try some new schemes against Kittle, Kelce, Andrews, Fant and the Browns trio. pic.twitter.com/Rz4ZdmHNjP
Now, it’s worth noting that aside from Waller, the defense hasn’t really had to face any scary tight ends to this point. Kittle will be the toughest tight end they’ve faced so far this season and they’ll also have Travis Kelce coming up in a few weeks when the Chiefs come to town in Week 17.
Not having Wilson in coverage is going to hurt but if Bates plays as poorly as he did last week, the Bengals are going be in a heap of trouble. Kittle has the ability to take over games and Cincinnati can’t let that happen this week if they want to right the ship.