The 49ers may be beating the Patriots, but they can't always beat the officials, who just committed a whiff of a penalty call on George Kittle.
The San Francisco 49ers (and all their fans) have an absolute right to be livid with referee Scott Novak and his crew for their Week 4 contest at Levi's Stadium against the New England Patriots.
Sure, the Niners are beating the offensively challenged Pats. But they should have been up 20-0 over New England much sooner than the 3:11 mark of the second quarter.
Quarterback Brock Purdy already delivered some clutch passes on San Francisco's late-quarter drive, including a strike to wide receiver Jauan Jennings that went for 32 yards.
Not long thereafter, though, Purdy hit running back Jordan Mason, who rumbled forward for 38 yards and made it into the end zone for what appeared to be a touchdown.
Except it didn't count.
On the play, tight end George Kittle was flagged for holding, apparently, although watching the replay only shows a legal grab of the defender's jersey.
Even Fox Sports' color analyst Greg Olsen fully disagreed with the call:
Kittle called for holding and it wipes away a Touchdown… #NEvsSF pic.twitter.com/0EcPWtDOZJ
— Rate the Refs App (@Rate_the_Refs) September 29, 2024
Two more flags, including another would-be touchdown, negated would-be San Francisco scores and some pretty impressive plays by Purdy.
Thankfully, the visibly angered 49ers kept the drive going. Purdy hit Kittle for a 12-yard touchdown to Kittle to reach that 20-0 spot.
One can only imagine that felt good for both tight end and quarterback, and it had to make head coach Kyle Shanahan feel much better, too.
Shanahan was livid with Novak and his crew not long before. Understandably.