George Kittle Sees 'Hot' Lions Team Ready to Battle

Kittle aware of threat Lions pose in NFC title game.

The Detroit Lions have surprised many with their run to the NFC Championship Game during the 2023 NFL season. 

Led by third-year coach Dan Campbell and a wave of young, upstart talent, the Lions have dispatched each of their first two playoff opponents to set up a showdown against the juggernaut San Francisco 49ers. 

While this ascent has come as a sudden shock to many, their opponents are not surprised by the Lions' charge toward the Super Bowl. In particular, 49ers tight end George Kittle explained why Detroit's presence in the NFC title game has come as no surprise. 

“No, I’m not surprised at all. Yeah, not at all. The way that they play, you can just tell, everything that Dan Campbell preaches is what the team is," Kittle said on The Pat McAfee Show Tuesday. "There’s no — It’s not fake. They’re gritty, they’re gonna out-work you, they’re gonna out-effort you, they’re gonna put everything on tape. One of our goals as tight ends is to out-try your try-hards, that’s what one of our goals is every week. That kind of seems like their mindset as well, ‘We’re just gonna out-try you and we’re gonna put more effort on tape than anyone else.’ And, you see that, and they’ve got good players to match it, as well."

Kittle shares a bond with Lions rookie Sam LaPorta, as both players are tight ends who played collegiately at Iowa. While he has that connection, he also shouted out numerous members of Detroit's offense that have caught his eye in early film study. 

"I was looking really just at their offense, and I’m a huge — I think Frank (Ragnow), their center, is a phenomenal player," Kittle explained. "Yeah, absolute dog. Huge fan of Frank, met him last year at the Pro Bowl, super cool dude. I like watching their offense, too. LaPorta’s fantastic, (Amon-Ra) St. Brown’s fantastic. (Jared) Goff’s playing at a high level. So, their offense is doing everything they need to do. And hey, their running backs are pretty damn good, as well."

Much like the Lions, the Green Bay Packers had been riding a wave of momentum heading into their divisional round showdown with the 49ers. However, the Packers were unable to put away San Francisco, and suffered a defeat. 

Lions Must Play with 'Hair on Fire' to Defeat 49ers

After being taken to the brink, Kittle noted that the momentum factor is a real one that his team will have to deal with when it takes on the Lions. 

"So, they have guys, they’re playing the way they want to play, and like what I said about the Packers, they’re hot," Kittle said. "They’re on a roll right now. And, when you have momentum and you’re playing for that city of Detroit, you could see and feel the energy in that stadium. That is a huge wave of momentum that they’re bringing with them to California.” 

To their credit, the Lions aren't surprised, either. Campbell's group has shown plenty of resilience and grit in its journey to the doorstep of the sport's biggest stage. 

Now, he's got the team focused on blocking out distractions in anticipation of the biggest game many of the members of the roster have played in during their career.

"That's easy, it's the distractions. That's the easiest one," Campbell said on 97.1 The Ticket Tuesday. "Getting ready for these guys is not gonna be hard. Knowing what we're getting ready to face, the type of team they are. We already know it's a hard-nosed team. To me, we're two juggernauts that are just gonna be swinging at each other. It's not that. It's all the other stuff."

"I'm not surprised at all that the Detroit Lions are here..

They have a phenomenal team and they're playing at a high level" ~ @gkittle46 #PMSLive pic.twitter.com/Apy3D2Qmw6

— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) January 23, 2024