The San Francisco 49ers are coming apart at the seams, as they have now lost three games in a row to fall to 5-7. They are now in last place in the NFC West.
Perhaps not surprisingly, frustrations appear to be boiling over in San Francisco, as 49ers star tight end George Kittle does not seem too happy with his lack of touches.
Kittle logged just one catch on two targets in the Niners' 35-10 loss to the Buffalo Bills on Sunday night, and afterward, he seemed rather bewildered about his absence from the offense.
“I do not have an explanation,” Kittle said, via Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports Bay Area. “I think I ran six more routes the rest of the day.”
To be fair, the weather conditions were not exactly pass-friendly, as the field at Highmark Stadium in Buffalo was filled with snow. However, the fact that Kittle was only targeted twice in 18 passes from quarterback Brock Purdy is certainly strange.
“I felt open multiple times,” Kittle said.
This is definitely not the first example of tension within the 49ers, as Deebo Samuel got into a sideline altercation with kicker Jake Moody and long snapper Taybor Pepper earlier in the season.
With San Francisco's playoff hopes fading more and more by the week, you truly have to wonder about the state of the Niners' locker room.
For Kittle, it represented his lowest amount of targets in a game since Oct. 15, 2023. Since Kittle entered the league in 2017, he has only been targeted twice or less 10 times, and four of those occasions came during his rookie campaign.
On the season overall, the 31-year-old has caught 50 passes for 649 yards and eight touchdowns.
Kittle has made five trips to the Pro Bowl while also earning a couple of First-Team All-Pro selections throughout his illustrious NFL tenure, so to see him so marginalized in a game is definitely jarring.
The Los Angeles Rams have now moved ahead of the 49ers in the standings, as the Rams beat the New Orleans Saints in Week 13 to improve to 6-6.
Los Angeles already beat San Francisco earlier in the season and will face the Niners again on Dec. 12.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com/nfl/rams/ as Frustrations Boiling Over for Rams' Fierce Rival.