On Monday night, the Lions will be facing a San Francisco 49ers team that looks markedly different than the one they battled in last season’s NFC Championship Game. For starters, San Francisco will be down three key offensive performers, all of whom it has lost to season-ending injuries: wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk (knee), running back Christian McCaffrey (knee) and left tackle Trent Williams (ankle).

Yet, this 49ers squad, led by eighth-year head coach Kyle Shanahan, still features several high-impact players. And when it comes to the offensive side of the ball, the team features no bigger playmaker than tight end George Kittle.

The two-time All-Pro, now in his eighth NFL season, is on the verge of a second consecutive – and fourth overall – 1,000-yard receiving season (967 yards through 13 games). Additionally, he’s recorded 100-plus yards in two of his last three games (151 yards against the Bears in Week 14 and 106 yards against the Dolphins in Week 16). Plus, he’s racked up 68 catches and eight touchdowns on the season, and has earned a 91.4 overall grade from Pro Football Focus for his efforts. That mark, by the way, ranks No. 1 among 36 qualified tight ends.

Simply put, Kittle, now 31 years old, remains the real deal, and could be a matchup nightmare for the Lions Monday. 

He also is likely to benefit from Detroit defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn’s propensity to blitz. The Lions, in fact, blitz at the eighth-highest rate in the NFL, and Kittle has absolutely thrived off of that this season. Specifically, he ranks No. 1 among all tight ends in yards per route run when facing the blitz, according to PFF. 

Glenn, for one, believes the Iowa product is the game’s “best tight end.” 

“He is a weapon, and when you watch him on tape, he looks even faster than he’s been in his years,” Glenn told reporters earlier this week. “Man, he’s going up and getting the ball, he’s blocking. They’re getting the ball to him at the point of attack.”

Expect fellow Hawkeyes product and Detroit linebacker Jack Campbell to receive a healthy dose of reps against Kittle in this Week 17 tilt. It’ll be far from an easy assignment for the second-year pro. However, if there’s anyone up for the task, it’d be the 2023 first-round pick. 

Campbell has enjoyed a solid sophomore campaign patrolling the middle of the Lions’ defense. He’s compiled 116 total tackles, including five for loss, along with 1.5 sacks, five passes defensed and a forced fumble. Plus, he’s earned a 75.4 overall grade from PFF (ninth-best among all qualified linebackers), including a 70.7 pass-coverage grade.

I expect Campbell to exert his very best effort against Kittle on Monday night. Yet, I don’t believe it’ll be enough to keep the five-time Pro Bowler in check.

I’m predicting that Kittle finishes with five receptions, 58 yards and a touchdown in San Francisco’s primetime showdown with Detroit.

The San Francisco Giants have changed a lot in the recent months, but is it enough to finally drum up excitement for next season?

Bleacher Report’s Zachary D. Rymer recently went through each MLB team’s calendar year to find a grade for how everything has turned out. The Giants received a mediocre ‘C’ mark, calling 2024 an ‘uninspiring’ year.

San Francisco finished 80-82 last year and missed the postseason. Since then they have moved on from Farhan Zaidi and replaced him with franchise legend Buster Posey.

Posey will look to finally push them from a perennial mediocre squad to finally becoming contenders once again.

The first two things that stand out as positives from this year have been the emergence of Matt Chapman as a team leader and the willingness to give Willy Adames a record contract.

Star power has been the main thing missing from the Giants’ roster, so it has been good to see Posey not willing to let the team get much worse than they already were.

The offense should already, on paper, look much better next year with even more moves rumored to be on the horizon.

Another positive has been the breakout of Bryce Eldridge in the farm system. Along with not having anyone looking like franchise cornerstones on the MLB roster, their pipeline had also looked to be lacking.

Eldridge now looks like a real star in the making after posting a .293//.348/.512 slash line with 23 home runs while touching four different levels of the minors at just 19 years old.

While these were clear positive, Rymer also mentioned a few things that kept them from receiving an outright good grade for 2024.

This past campaign was the third year in a row that they finished around a .500 record. They haven’t been bad enough to add elite talent in the draft, but also haven’t been that good.

While the offense might be able to push them past that into contention, their pitching staff might be taking a step back.

Blake Snell left for the Los Angeles Dodgers, adding insult to injury after being unable to bring him back. His 1.23 ERA over his final 14 starts were a large reason things started to pick up down the stretch.

They then looked at replacing him with Corbin Burnes, but then lost Burnes to the Arizona Diamondbacks. Another NL West foe improving the pitching staff while San Francisco is left scratching their heads.

The Giants have yet to add anyone to the staff so they may have to run it back, minus the elite production from Snell down the stretch.

A ‘C’ grade is fair, given that there is just about as much to be wary about with pitching as there is to be happy about on offense.