The 49ers have fought through a spate of early-season injuries to emerge as one of the best teams in the NFL, moving to 5-2 on the year after an impressively physical 20-10 win over the Falcons on Sunday Night Football. It marked the return of All-Pro tight end George Kittle, who had been sidelined with a right hamstring injury the previous five games. Kittle did not fill up the stat sheet as Mac Jones's two passes in his direction fell incomplete, but the San Francisco offense hummed along quite nicely as Christian McCaffrey accounted for 201 total yards while finding the end zone twice.

The 49ers are a sum of their parts and synonymous with total team football so while it was somewhat surprising to see Kittle invited onto the SNF set to discuss the win, it makes sense.

"I like winning and I like when when Christian McCaffrey has a bunch of touchdowns," Kittle said.

There are a lot of Bay Area fans who would co-sign that statement. But few had the same foresight as Kittle about the running back's explosive performance.

"Every Saturday night, our tight end coach [Brian] Fleury wants all the tight ends to get up in front of the room and set a goal," Kittle said. "Anywhere from dominate the edges, tight end touchdown, whatever goals. And my goal this week was CMC [to be] NFC Player of the Week. And if I actually called that, that might be the best guess of all time."

The game is about more than numbers. Kittle's return may not have resulted in anything in the way of fantasy football production but it signals the 49ers are getting stronger and healthier. That they have been able to withstand a good amount of attrition to remain at the top of the NFC West is an excellent sign.

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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Why George Kittle Was So Fired Up Despite Not Catching a Ball in Return to 49ers.