The Big Picture: How the 49ers are Overcoming Everything and 'Ready For Anything'

LINCOLN FINANCIAL FIELD (Philadelphia) — There was a moment Sunday night when the cart drove away with George Kittle on the back that left some of the San Francisco 49ers feeling deflated. The big tight end was, as Christian McCaffrey called him, "the heart and soul" of the team.

They knew that losing him to a torn Achilles was going to hurt deep.

"I mean, yeah, for a moment," Kittle’s replacement, tight end Jake Tonges, told me. "But you don’t have time to dwell on it. It’s been happening all year. So we just take it as it comes."

It’s not that the 49ers didn’t care, it’s that they have long ago resigned themselves to the fact that this is simply the fate of this year’s team. Their season has been filled with a mind-numbing array of injuries to key players — a list of ailments and losses that probably should have killed their chances long ago. They’ve spent most of the season without their three best defensive players. Their quarterback missed half the season. So did several of his best weapons.

And that was before they lost Kittle and starting safety Ji’Ayir Brown in the first half of their wild-card game.

Yet here they are, still alive, and heading into the divisional round of the playoffs after they fought back for a 23-19 win over the Philadelphia Eagles. Here they are, with a 13-5 record, heading to Seattle on a short week to face the top-seeded Seahawks (14-3) on Saturday.

Christian McCaffrey caught two touchdowns and tallied 114 yards from scrimmage. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)

They’re still standing, somehow, some way, even if it does feel like their entire roster has been one stiff wind away from completely falling apart.

"This team fights, man," said McCaffrey, who defied the odds (so far) to play in all 18 games this season. "I think this team is never out of the fight. We can have a lot of stuff happen to us throughout the year. Some unfortunate things happened to us. 

"But we don’t blink."

They’ve certainly had reason to blink, or maybe even to close their eyes and wish for the season to be over. It has been a physical struggle since the first game of the year. At that point, they were still waiting for receiver Brandon Aiyuk to return from a knee injury — something he would never do. Then quarterback Brock Purdy sprained his toe, which would cause him to miss most of the first half of the season.

They lost their best pass-rusher (Nick Bosa, torn ACL) in Week 3, their defensive leader (linebacker Fred Warner, dislocated ankle) in Week 6, their promising first-round pick (edge rusher Mykel Williams, torn ACL) in Week 9. Receiver Ricky Pearsall hurt his knee in Week 4 and ended up playing in only nine games. Purdy played in only nine games. Kittle played in 11.

And somehow they went into the final game of the regular season riding a six-game winning streak with a shot at the NFC’s top seed. Then they lost that game, 13-3, to the Seahawks in San Francisco, along with three more linebackers — starters Dee Winters and Tatum Bethune and backup Luke Gifford (a Pro Bowl special teamer). And then somehow they flew across the country to face the defending Super Bowl champs and withstood everything they had.

The defense even held off the Eagles’ attempt at a game-winning drive in the waning seconds, while playing two linebackers — Eric Kendricks and Garret Wallow — who have barely been with the team for more than a month.

Eric Kendricks (43) was promoted the 49ers' active roster just last week. (Photo by Terence Lewis/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

"Stuff like that is unbelievable," McCaffrey said. "I think it's a testament to the room, the coaching, the system, to be able to come in here not even a month ago and not just play but play well is a huge deal. So proud of those guys and respect the hell out of the fact that they came in here and made a lot of plays."

"I remember saying it after Week 1: I thought we had a special group of guys," 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan said. "I wasn't sure exactly how good we would be, but I knew we had a chance. And they battled throughout the whole year. We've overcome a lot of stuff."

The question, of course, is how much more can they overcome? How much can one team take and still keep thriving? They head to Seattle on a short week, with little time to heal, against an opponent that will have had nearly two full weeks to rest and plan. And they’ll do it without Kittle, not only their spiritual leader but their second leading receiver (57-628-7) despite missing six regular-season games.

"It’s hard to do, man," McCaffrey admitted. "This team has carried the character of George Kittle throughout the entire year. It’s a tough loss, man. When he’s not playing it means a lot."

And yet it doesn’t, because the 49ers know better than anyone the beat must go on, no matter how much the physical beating hurts. Kittle goes down, Tonges steps in, as he has for nearly one-third of the season, catching 34 passes for 293 yards and five touchdowns. 

No, he’s no Kittle. Nobody is. But the 49ers don’t have the time, patience or desire to really dwell on what they’ve lost.

George Kittle could miss all of the 2026 season after tearing his Achilles. (Photo by Scott Strazzante/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)

"If somebody does go down, another person’s got to step up," receiver Demarcus Robinson told me after stepping up on Sunday to catch six passes for 111 yards and a touchdown. "He’s in the same room with him, studying the same thing, so it shouldn’t be a drop-off.

"It’s just a different name and number on the jersey."

It’s not that simple, of course, though for the 49ers it seems to be. They take that proverbial licking week after week and somehow keep on ticking. And on a team whose Week 1 starters ended up playing less than 60% of their snaps during the regular season, this battered, beleaguered and bruised team is convinced their time hasn’t ticked away just yet.

"We’ve been doing it all year, so we know we have the guys to come in and fill in well. You just can’t think about it too much," Tonges told me. "So yeah, we’re battle tested. We’re ready to go. 

"Whatever they throw at us, we’re going to be ready for anything."

Ralph Vacchiano is an NFL Reporter for FOX Sports. He spent six years covering the Giants and Jets for SNY TV in New York, and before that, 16 years covering the Giants and the NFL for the New York Daily News. Follow him on Twitter at @RalphVacchiano.

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