San Francisco 49ers 38, Arizona Cardinals 10
Q. What were your expectations coming to the international game in Mexico City and did it deliver, the experience?
GEORGE KITTLE: It definitely delivered. I'll tell you this, I saw the game in Germany and those fans were just so happy for football to be there. And coming down here, I know it was mostly 49ers fans and I knew the fans were going to show out.
The reception we got at the hotel last night were incredible, and the fans all day and here tonight were fantastic. It had completely different energy to and it you could tell how much it meant to every single fan that was there and the lion show in the fourth quarter was probably one of the coolest moments in my career.
Q. As one of the leaders of the offense of the 49ers, what would you say is one aspect of your leadership that it's affecting in a good way to all your teammates?
GEORGE KITTLE: I just try to have a fiery energy out there, fiery spirit and I think guys vibe with that and guys go off of that, whether it be physical and whether we are having a good time. Once we get going, the whole group on offense flows together.
Q. Inaudible.
GEORGE KITTLE: We are definitely ready to go on a run. We have just won three straight. Our defense is playing at an incredibly high level not giving up points in the second half for multiple games in a row. Our offense, we scored when we got in the red zone. That was big for us. We made plays outside the red zone and scored touchdowns and that's huge for us because that's been one thing that's limited us as an offense and that's put us in pad positions because we had to kick so many field goals -- thank you Robbie Gould for making them.
But still we didn't score points, and when our defense plays like that and our offense plays like that and Mitch is punting the way he's punting, we are playing good football as a team.
Q. What about your friendship Luchador Pentagón? What about the mask? How is your relationship with one of our top Mexican wrestlers?
GEORGE KITTLE: I met Penta back in 2018 in New Orleans. We met there multiple times. I use his celebration, "Serenedo." He has a different swagger to him, a mildly disrespectful swagger to him, and I really take that to heart. He's fantastic.
We get to hang out once in a while, every wrestling show that I see him at. He was at the game tonight. He gave me a mask. He sends me all my masks, so big shout-out to him. We always stay in touch which is fun. He's a superstar, so it's kind of fun to be friends with him.
Q. Can you talk about the game in Germany, and this trip to Mexico City, very important for the NFL and you guys as a team, how important is it to play outside the United States?
GEORGE KITTLE: I think huge. The NFL has fans worldwide and to perform and play in front of those fans that don't get a lot of opportunities to see NFL games live, I think it's amazing. I love playing -- and this is my first game out of the country but I think every international game that's here has put on a good show and I hope we keep doing it because it is so much fun and I hope we have an opportunity to come back here because this place was an amazing. It was so much fun. The altitude definitely got me a little bit but the atmosphere was so much fun.
Q. You are one of the best tight ends in the league; what other teams do you have to beat in the NFC this year?
GEORGE KITTLE: I think there's a lot of good teams in the NFC. The Eagles are playing well. I think the whole NFC East is playing at a high level. Vikings are playing well. Dallas is playing at a high level.
We definitely have a long stretch ahead of us. I know the Saints are a really good football team despite what their record is, they have a really good defense so that's what we will be focused on this week. We have a little short week but we'll definitely be prepared and be coming out guns blazing.
Q. Inaudible
GEORGE KITTLE: I just thought it would be nice. It was fun. The second one was really fun, a playaction keeper, those are my favorites. It's hard to do that against all the 3-4 teams we play, but getting them, we called it into a blitz. It couldn't have been better. That was really fun. I think all the players played at a very high level, all the positions, running backs, wide backs, tight end. I think everyone played at a high level and Jimmy played well, too.
Q. The altitude, how did it feel for you?
GEORGE KITTLE: I just spent a week in Colorado at 6,000 feet. I think that was definitely helpful for us. I got my second wind early. But fortunately I have a very good tight end room and we were able to rotate guys and I think everybody played at a very high level. Shout-out to our ownership to taking us to Colorado and putting us in those situations, and I'm just happy that we got the win.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports