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It's been a tough road for the San Francisco 49ers, and the team endured another devastating setback against the Buffalo Bills in Week 13. Tight end George Kittle mentioned how the various injuries have impacted the 49ers' season, following the 35-10 loss.
The 49ers kicked off the game looking like the team that won the NFC championship a season ago. The snowy field conditions didn't seem to bother the West Coast squad, at first.
Christian McCaffrey was bolted through the line of scrimmage for 53 yards on seven carries, in just over one quarter of action, before the nightmare scenario happened for San Francisco. On a pitch to the right from Brock Purdy, McCaffrey went down almost immediately in the backfield. He walked off the field on his own strength, but headed straight to the blue tent when he reached the sidelines.
Head coach Kyle Shanahan then made the halftime announcement that the Pro Bowl running back wouldn't return to the game.
George Kittle addresses 49ers injuries after Week 13 loss
The 49ers also entered the Sunday Night Football matchup without starting left tackle Trent Williams, and key defensive players in Nick Bosa and Deommodore Lenoir. Star wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk and defensive tackle Javon Hargrave are out for the season, so San Francisco has been playing without its full roster for most of their games.
“It's not a great feeling, but I mean, it's football,” Kittle said, per ESPN's Nick Wagoner. “People go down and we've had seasons where plenty of people have gone down and you need someone to step up and that's what we need. We continually need guys to step up, whether it's starters and players that we have that are already doing it or new guys who are getting into the rotation. We're in the NFL for a reason. All these guys belong in the NFL and they have playmaking abilities. That's on all of us.”
With McCaffrey also expected to be done for the year after suffering his knee injury on Sunday night, Kittle, Deebo Samuel and Purdy have to figure out how they'll snap their three-game losing streak and potentially turn their 5-7 record into a miraculous playoff push.
