49ers TE George Kittle sets up go-ahead TD, scores another

SANTA CLARA, Calif. – The San Francisco 49ers moved the ball with little issue in the first half against the Dallas Cowboys but only had a pair of field goals to show for it.

The 49ers quickly corrected that problem to open the second half, marching 60 yards in 2:03 to regain the lead at 13-10. Rookie running back Isaac Guerendo, in for an ailing Jordan Mason, plunged in from 4 yards out after tight end George Kittle caught a short pass from quarterback Brock Purdy and raced 43 yards to Dallas’ 4.

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The touchdown is the first of Guerendo’s young career after the Niners selected him in the fourth round of this year’s NFL draft. It came after the 49ers averaged 7.64 yards per play in the first half, the most they’d averaged in the opening two quarters without a touchdown since at least 1991, according to the Associated Press.

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It’s the sixth time in seven games the Cowboys have allowed points on the opening drive of the third quarter and the fifth touchdown in that situation.

It didn’t take long for the 49ers to add on to their new lead as Kittle caught a 2-yard touchdown pass from Purdy in the right corner of the end zone to extend the lead to 20-10 with 7:14 left in the third.

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For Kittle, the founding father of National Tight Ends Day, it was his sixth receiving touchdown of the season, tied for the second-most in his career. The score came after cornerback Deommodore Lenoir’s second interception of the season.