The 49ers have dominated the NFC for years, making four conference championship appearances and two trips to the Super Bowl over the last five seasons.
But the team’s biggest stars can recognize greatness when they see it — even if it’s elsewhere.
When asked if the Detroit Lions, who boast a 4-1 record heading into Week 7, are the best team in the NFC, 49ers tight end George Kittle and wide receiver Deebo Samuel shared an honest response.
“I think they’re playing the best,” Kittle said while appearing on this week’s episode of Bleacher Report’s “Cleats & Convos with Deebo Samuel.” “So yeah, right now, it seems like it.”
“I’m with George,” Samuel said, agreeing.
Detroit is the NFC’s only one-loss team remaining this season, just behind the first-place Minnesota Vikings (5-0) in the loaded NFC North.
But both Kittle and Samuel know what it’s like to be on a streaking team full of momentum and early success, and how that can change in a heartbeat.
“The crazy thing is, football’s a lot different in December than it is [in October.] It’s a long season,” Kittle said. “So if they can stay playing at that level for the rest of the season, goodness gracious. Watch out, everybody. We’ve experienced it before, too. You could be playing at a really high level and then you just lose a key player out of nowhere. [Lions defensive end] Aidan Hutchinson, how horrible. Devastating. And he was leading the league in sacks, playing at a great level. When you lose a guy like that, you know, that happens.
“But you’re not just losing him on the field. I’m pretty sure he’s a team captain. He’s in the locker room every single day. He’s in the defensive line room every single day. You’re losing his presence in the whole locker room. He’ll be back in the building, it’s just different. So when you have an injury like that, it’s tough. They’re going to be an amazing team, they still have a ton of their key players, all their stars. They still have it. But when you lose a key component like that, it’s just different.”
“I think Detroit’s good enough and they have enough players to balance it out, but we’ll just see how that happens.”
Hutchinson, Detroit’s best defensive player and a 2024 NFL Defensive Player of the Year candidate, sustained a gruesome leg injury on a sack of Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott last week. He underwent successful surgery to repair a fractured tibia and fibula and is expected to make a full recovery, but there currently is no timeline for his return.
With or without Detroit’s star defender, though, Samuel and Kittle believe the Lions have what it takes to seek vengeance on last season’s NFC Championship Game collapse against the 49ers.
And while there still is plenty of football to be played, the 49ers’ top dogs like what they see so far in The Motor City.
