SANTA CLARA, Calif. — On Sunday night, moments after playing an entire game without a catch for the first time in his eight-plus NFL seasons, San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle was his usual, chipper self.

Kittle didn’t mind much that his 114-game run of catches, the second-longest streak by a tight end to start a career since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger, had ended. Quite the opposite, in fact, after he played a prominent role in jump starting the Niners’ run game in a 20-10 victory against the Atlanta Falcons.

“I would love to get the football,” Kittle said. “I love catching the ball. I love hitting people and I love running in the open space. But like I said, if other guys are taking advantage of the opportunity and they’re winning their one-on-ones, I’ll take it. I want to win, and I want to just keep winning because that’s way more fun than having 100 yards and losing.”

If the Niners (5-2) are going to keep winning, Kittle will have to play a significant role in it — whether as a blocker in the run game, a receiving threat in the pass game, a magnet for attention from opposing defenses or some combination of all three.

But while Kittle’s return from the right hamstring injury that kept him out for five games didn’t come with big numbers, it offered a glimpse of what the Niners offense could be when quarterback Brock Purdy and wideout Ricky Pearsallreturn, too.

According to coach Kyle Shanahan, Purdy (right big toe) and Pearsall (right knee) will be monitored as the week goes on before deciding if either could return Sunday against the Houston Texans(1 p.m. ET, Fox).

There’s still no definitive timetable for receiver Brandon Aiyuk (right knee) to return to practice though Shanahan has indicated Week 10 could be a logical landing spot. Guard Ben Bartch (right ankle), guard Spencer Burford (knee) and wide receiver Jacob Cowing (hamstring) are also nearing a return.

All of which means the 49ers could be getting serious offensive reinforcements soon, though with this team there’s no such thing as fully healthy. (Example A: The offense will be without center Jake Brendela “couple of weeks” due to a hamstring injury.)

Getting closer to full strength on offense is ideal considering the defense is working through the seasonlong absences of linebacker Fred Warner (dislocated and fractured right ankle) and end Nick Bosa (torn right ACL).

“We’re going to have to step up,” right tackle Colton McKivitz said. “On offense, is there a little more urgency to score? Yeah. Is there a little more urgency to run the ball better? Yeah, I mean, same thing in the pass game. It is just time for us to start hitting on all cylinders.”

Through the first seven games, the Niners might have been a few cylinders short, but that doesn’t mean they haven’t been productive. A closer inspection of their output would suggest the offense is close to breaking through into the league’s top echelon, if only they can improve in a few key areas.

As it stands, the 49ers are sixth in the NFL in yards per game (366.6) and average time of possession (31:51), fifth in first downs per game (22.1) and second in third-down conversion rate (47.5%) but are 23rd in points per game (20.7) and 18th in yards per play (5.3).

The disconnect can be traced to turning the ball over too much (11, tied for fifth most), struggling to finish drives in the red zone (47.8%, 25th in the league) and a lack of explosive plays on offense (a combined 38 runs of 10-plus yards and receptions of 20-plus yards, tied for 19th).

At least one solution for all of those problems can be found in Kittle, who has fumbled twice in his career, scored the third-most red zone receiving touchdowns (21) among tight ends since 2021 and has the second-most receptions of 20-plus yards (116) among tight ends since entering the league in 2017.

Even when Kittle isn’t catching the ball for big gains, his impact in the run game is undeniable and unlocking that part of the offense should positively impact those aforementioned problem areas. In San Francisco’s first six games, it had just nine explosive runs (gains of 10-plus yards). With Kittle back against the Falcons, the Niners had eight such carries.

Having Kittle in the lineup adds a dominant run blocker to the mix and keeps defenses honest, which is why the Falcons threw double and triple teams at Kittle while running back Christian McCaffrey feasted. That script could flip at any time, and getting Aiyuk, Pearsall and others back will only expand those options.

“Everything changes [with those guys],” wideout Kendrick Bourne said. “Not to take away from anybody else, but George is one of one. … Can’t wait to have him and Ricky back to just help us, but he’s going to open up a lot of different windows for me, for CMC, for everybody else and it is going to be fun.”

Getting the big plays back in the mix is another priority for the 49ers, though there’s also a notable trend around the NFL where defenses are doing everything they can to take them away and force offenses to execute drives of a dozen or more plays without making a mistake.

Since Shanahan arrived in 2017, the Niners have 999 explosive plays, the most in the NFL. But those plays have been harder to come by this season as defenses have focused on McCaffrey and dared a rotating cast of pass catchers to do damage down the field.

“It’s harder in general to get explosives in the league now, the way defenses play,” 49ers offensive coordinator Klay Kubiak said. “It’s not something you’ve got to overcorrect or anything. You think those will come your way if you keep playing the right way.”

None of that takes away from what tight endsJake Tonges and Luke Farrell and receivers Bourne, Jauan Jennings and Demarcus Robinsonhave done to keep the offense afloat through the first part of the season. It’s just the reality of how defenses are approaching the Niners when they don’t have their full complement of stars. It’s also part of what has made McCaffrey’s performance so impressive. Every defense knows he’s getting the ball more often than not and he still leads the league in scrimmage yards (981).

So long as he’s healthy, the offense will remain McCaffrey-centric for the foreseeable future.

But it’s not hard to envision a day soon where defenses must pick their poison. In the meantime, the Niners don’t expect to be at full strength again this season. For they know better than most what is required of them in the absence of so many important players.

“There’s some teams that just get brutally hit with injuries, and at the end of the day, outside of your locker room, nobody really gives a s—,” Kittle said. “And regardless of who’s out there and who’s not out there, the Niners are going to try to play with the standard that we’ve set.”br/]

Associated Press

Big games allow for lasting memories. Fans will forever remember this Seattle Mariners postseason run. Cal’s historic moments. The long wait rewarded in Game 5 against Detroit. The thrill of the first two wins in Toronto. And Geno’s grand slam, which put them in position to go farther than ever before.

Drayer: Where the Mariners are left after falling short of World Series

No one can take those memories away. They were real and they were spectacular. But, unfortunately, they will be superseded by the nightmare of George Springer’s prodigious blast, which ended this season before the ultimate goal could be reached.

The Mariners aren’t the first team to experience this kind of heartache. And, in fact, Seattle fans wouldn’t need to press too hard to remember a similar feeling.

The 2012 Seahawks seemingly came out of nowhere. Their ferocious defense was just starting to show what it could do and their rookie quarterback wasn’t generating a lot of respect. But the young members of the Legion of Boom and an offense keyed by Russell Wilson and Marshawn Lynch were hitting on all cylinders by the time the playoffs rolled around. Their December was very similar to what the Mariners just did in September; they won five straight games with three massive blowouts.

After dispatching with Robert Griffin III and Washington in the wild card round, the Seahawks were poised to beat the Falcons in epic fashion. Marshawn scored from the 2-yard line and the team was 31 seconds away from going to the NFC Championship Game.

We all know what happened next. The summer started early, the Niners went to the Super Bowl, and the Hawks spent the offseason trying (and eventually succeeding) to get to the next level.

In my own sports fandom, this one for the Mariners felt a lot like the 2003 Red Sox who lost Game 7 in Yankee Stadium after manager Grady Little left Pedro Martinez in way too long, and Aaron Boone walked it off a few innings later with a home run that I remember shutting off before it ever left the yard.

In fact, this one was even more similar because of the questions regarding the in-game decision making. Little was somewhat similar to Mariners manager Dan Wilson, a well-liked skipper who brought together people in the clubhouse and empowered them to succeed, but with some questions regarding his strategic decision making and comfort with the then-burgeoning field of analytical data.

Seattle Mariners’ Dan Wilson backs Game 7 bullpen decision

Both losses for the Seahawks and Red Sox were excruciating. Both felt a little like the end of the world and a little like the potential beginning of a new era. And both teams won championships the next season.

So can the 2026 Mariners be the 2004 Red Sox or 2013 Seahawks? That depends on them.

After the loss in Atlanta, the Seahawks went out and got Cliff Avril and Michael Bennett to augment their already impressive pass rush led by Chris Clemons and Bruce Irvin. The new duo combined for 16.5 sacks in the regular season and added three more in the playoffs. The numbers were great, but the personality, depth and intensity they brought to the team may have mattered even more. Signing them both in the offseason was the ultimate signal of belief from the front office to the players.

After 2003, the Red Sox hired Terry Francona as manager and acquired Curt Schilling. The former won them two titles and is now widely considered among the best managers of his era, and the latter won 21 games before becoming a postseason hero. Both were renowned for the leadership and dogged determination that helped break an 86-year curse just 12 months after that disastrous night in the Bronx.

As a fan of both teams in those moments, I can tell you the sting was similar. No Seahawks fan nor Red Sox fan at that time could tell you about seeing their team hoist a trophy. But a year later, I believe many (if not most) would say the victories tasted even sweeter after the horrible endings that preceded them. They would also say the organizations recognized how close they were to being at a championship level and made the moves to get themselves over the top.

The 2026 Mariners have some big decisions to make. As of today, Josh Naylor, Eugenio Suárez and Jorge Polanco (if he wants) are all free agents. As of today, the combined salary of the two Mitches (some $28 million) comes off the books as well. I think every single Mariners fan alive would prioritize signing Naylor. But there are lots of questions that follow.

Is J.P. Crawford back for the last year of his deal? What are you going to do in right field where Victor Robles never got untracked and Dom Canzone flashed in the season but fell flat in the playoffs? When will Colt Emerson be ready? Polanco is going to get a serious raise – do you want to be the one to pay him for his age 32 season and beyond? Are Cole Young and Ben Williamson ready to play every day at second and third base?

And do you have enough pitching? Improbably, it was that, the team’s greatest strength, that most fell apart in October.

The 2013 Seahawks and 2004 Red Sox are the models. But there is also a cautionary tale.

The 2016 Baltimore Orioles won 89 games, finished second in the AL East, but lost in a dramatic wild card game. Tied in the 11th inning, Toronto’s Edwin Encarnación took Ubaldo Jiménez deep while the O’s best pitcher, reliever Zach Britton, never entered that game. Sound familiar?

The following offseason, they did next to nothing. They re-signed Mark Trumbo (yikes), traded for Seth Smith, and that was about it. Not surprisingly, 2017 did not end well. The Orioles finished 75-87, dead last in the AL East.

Let me be clear, the M’s team we just watched is a whole lot closer to the Seahawks and Red Sox than to the Orioles. They have more talent, a better farm system, a younger roster and more opportunities ahead of them. They will take a few weeks to decompress, self-scout, and start to plan for next year. And hopefully this will be, as ESPN’s Jeff Passan said this week, more of a beginning than an ending.

It is entirely up to them.

More on the Seattle Mariners

• Passan: Mariners’ playoff run ‘a beginning, not an end’
• Mariners’ Cal Raleigh breaks one last record with 65th HR of 2025
• The real reason M’s lost ALCS is about more than a pitching change
• Morosi: Two decisions stand out from Mariners’ Game 7 loss
• What They Said: Seattle Mariners after losing ALCS Game 7

Follow @themikesalk