Despite still suffering the effects of the ankle injury that kept him out of the San Francisco 49ers' wild Week 17 win over the Chicago Bears, George Kittle was never going to miss his team's winner-take-all showdown with the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday to determine both the NFC West and the No. 1 seed in the conference.
Unfortunately for the Niners, of course, those dreams of a first-round bye and home-field advantage throughout the postseason didn't come to fruition, as the Seahawks went into Levi's Stadium and secured a 13-3 victory, thus wrapping up the division and the No. 1 seed for themselves.
As for the 49ers, with the Los Angeles Rams earning a Week 18 victory over the Arizona Cardinals to clinch the No. 5 seed, San Francisco fell into the No. 6 slot and will head to Philadelphia for a Wild Card Round date with the third-seeded Eagles.
Despite all the disappointment this final weekend of the regular season brought, however, Kittle managed to make a little franchise history, as he took possession of second place on San Francisco's all-time receptions list.
George Kittle surpassed Terrell Owens for second place on 49ers' all-time regular-season receptions list
Coming into the Week 18 matchup with the Seahawks, Kittle had amassed 590 receptions in 123 regular-season games since the 49ers made him the 146th overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft, thus putting him just two behind Owens, who tallied 592 in 121 games with San Francisco from 1996 to 2003.
Kittle tied T.O. with just over five minutes remaining in the second quarter, albeit on a pass from Brock Purdy that resulted in a 6-yard loss, and ultimately surpassed him with No. 593 just a few minutes later with a 5-yard reception on the final play before the two-minute warning. It was on this drive that San Francisco got its only points of the afternoon, as Eddy Pineiro connected on a 48-yard field goal.
George Kittle passes HOF Terrell Owens for the 2nd-most receptions in @49ers history 💪#FTTB pic.twitter.com/KzlffJZRFU
— NFL+ (@NFLPlus) January 4, 2026
Kittle ultimately ended his evening with five catches to get to 595. Of course, second place on this list is the highest he'll ever reach, as the great Jerry Rice notched a ridiculous 1,281 receptions during his 16-year run with the 49ers from 1985 to 2000. So, here's how the new top three looks.
- Jerry Rice: 1,281
- George Kittle: 595
- Terrell Owens: 592
Next up for Kittle in 2026 will be getting to second place on the Niners' all-time yardage list, as his 29 yards against Seattle now has him at 8,008 for his career, putting him 564 behind Owens.
- Jerry Rice: 19,247
- Terrell Owens: 8,572
- George Kittle: 8,008