San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle celebrates one of his three touchdowns against the Dallas Cowboys at Levi’s Stadium on Sunday OCT 8, 2023. (San Francisco 49ers)
by Marko Ukalovic
It was only a matter of time before George Kittle had his own breakout game.
Kittle scored his first three touchdowns of the season, a career high, in the San Francisco 49ers 42-10 route of the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday Night Football at Levi’s Stadium.
The 49ers all-pro tight end had three catches, all for touchdowns, with 67 yards as he tied a San Francisco franchise record for most touchdowns by a tight end in a single game.
San Francisco has started the season 5-0 for the first time since starting 7-0 back in 2019. Dallas dropped to 3-2 on the season as both losses have been to NFC West opponents.
“We have a really good team, we’re healthy and we’re clicking right now,” Kittle said.
The 49ers scored on its opening possession. Quarterback Brock Purdy hooked up with Kittle on his first touchdown of the game, a 19-yarder, to finish off a seven play 75-yard drive.
It was not a good start for Dallas as they started with back-to-back three and outs as San Francisco’s defense led by Fred Warner, who played like a man possessed with eight tackles, a sack and an interception, kept the Cowboys from establishing any kind of a rhythm.
“Being the competitor that I am, I wanted us to be the top defense and I think we did that tonight,” Warner said.
Both teams exchanged fumbles. Warned punched the ball out of running back Tony Polard’s hands at their own nine-yard line, which was recovered by Kevin Givens at the 16-yard line. Then two plays later running back Christian McCaffery fumbled at the Dallas 2-yard line that was recovered by Jourdan Lewis.
The 49ers defense disrupted Prescott all game long as they intercepted him three times and sacked him three times. San Francisco won the turnover battle four to one.
Purdy connected with Kittle for their second touchdown of the game, a 38-yard touchdown reception after a reverse flee-flicker from McCaffery to Deebo Samuel who pitched it back to Purdy who then threw to a wide-open Kittle down the right sideline as he cruised into the end zone with 13:16 left in the second quarter.
“That play was a great a draw up,” said Purdy regarding the trick play. “We were excited we finally got to call it (in a game).”
The Cowboys cut the lead in half with a 11 play 78-yard drive when Prescott connected with KaVontae Turpin for a 26-yard touchdown reception with 7:45 remaining in the first half.
The 49ers closed out the first half with a 21-7 lead when McCaffery rushed for his seventh touchdown of the season as he powered his way up the middle for a one-yard touchdown with 2:36 left in the second quarter. The all-pro running back has now scored a touchdown in a 49ers uniform in 14 consecutive games.
The Purdy-Kittle connection hooked up for a third touchdown of the night when Kittle got underneath the defense inside the endzone for a 10-yard touchdown reception on its first possession of the second half.
“Being able to see (Ex 49ers tight end) Vernon (Davis)pre-game. He told me to score three to tie his record. I was like (sigh) fine all right Vernon (Davis) I’ll do it, I’ll tell Brock…It was fun being able to get in the endzone,” Kittle said.
Purdy, who finished 17-for-24 for 252 yards with no interceptions, threw for his fourth touchdown of the game when he found fullback Kyle Juszczyk out in the flat for a one-yard touchdown reception with 14:19 left in the fourth quarter.
San Francisco scored its final touchdown after Prescott’s second interception. Backup running back Jordan Mason went untouched for a 26-yard rushing touchdown 20 seconds later.
It was a forgettable evening for Prescott as he finished 14-for-24 for 153 yards with one touchdown to go along with his three interceptions and quarterback rating of just 51.6. CeeDee Lamb led the Cowboys in receiving with four catches for 49 yards.
Mason led the 49ers in rushing with 69 yards on 10 carries and McCaffery had a modest night with 51 yards on 19 carries. Brandon Aiyuk chipped in four catches for 58 yards. Pollard had a quiet game with only 29 yards on eight carries.
GAME NOTES: San Francisco finished 6-for-11 on third down conversions. Dallas went 4-for-10.
San Francisco now leads the all-time series against Dallas 20-19-1.
Purdy remains undefeated in the regular season (10-0) and is 12-1 in his career with San Francisco.
The 49ers lead the NFL in first drive points with 31.
UP NEXT: San Francisco travels out to Cleveland to take on the Browns on Sunday 10/15 at 10:00am at FirstEnergy Stadium.
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