Falcons rookie tight end Kyle Pitts stepped forward to help carry the offense in the 20-16 win over the Lions and set a franchise record in the process on Sunday.
He caught all six of his targets for 102 yards. He was needed as the offense gave up three sacks on the opening drive and couldn’t establish the run all day against the Lions.
Pitts, who was named to the Pro Bowl last week, had his third 100-yard receiving game of the season.
Pitts now has 949 yards receiving on the season, which surpassed Pro Football Hall of Famer Tony Gonzalez (930 in 2012) for the most receiving yards by a tight end in a season in franchise history.
“It means a lot to me because I personally think that he is the best ever,” Pitts said. “He’s someone that I’ve always watched to it feels great.”
Pitts has met some of the wild expectations after the team picked him with the No. 4 overall pick, the highest for a tight end since the NFL-AFL merger in 1970.
“There was so much hype to start out with,” Falcons coach Arthur Smith said on Monday. “It does kind of change your thought process there.”
Pitts has not missed a start this season and has generally delivered while playing out of several formations as a tight end and sometimes as a wide receiver.
“You’re saying alright, well, you know, he’s supposed to do that,” Smith said. “Well, it’s not easy to do that and a lot of guys throughout professional sports with that kind of hype coming in they don’t handle it well. Kyle certainly has and that’s not lost on us here.”
Pitts didn’t know about eclipsing the mark until after the game.
“It was pretty exciting,” Pitts said. “I feel like I’m going through a lot pretty fast and the coach has been helping me along the way as well as Matt (Ryan) to achieve more goals.”
Only tight ends Mike Ditka (1961, Bears) with five and Charle Young (1973, Eagles) with four have had more 100-yard games than Pitts as a rookie. It must be noted that Ditka and Young played when the regular season consisted of 14 games. The NFL went to 16-game regular season in 1978. This 2021 season is the first 17-game regular-season in NFL history.
Pitts had not been over 70 yards receiving in seven games after going for 163 against Miami on Oct. 24. He had 77 yards receiving last week against San Francisco.
“Easier wouldn’t be the word, but better,” Pitts said about how he’s seeing defenses. “Each week gets better in my opinion. I can identify things faster, play faster, and get up faster.”
Pitts was generally aware of Gonzalez’ team mark.
“When I first came out, someone told me about it, but I never thought about it like that,” Pitts said. “When I was in college, I was just content with what I was doing, but I always strive to be the best.”
The Falcons figured out how to spring Pitts. They got him open in the middle of the Lions’ zone defense and up the right sideline for a huge 35-yard gain.
“We got us a couple of looks the second half,” Smith said. “We were able to push the ball down the field and it was a good job by Matt, Kyle and the entire team.”
Ryan stood in the face of a blitzing player to deliver the strike to Pitts.
“He always tells me to run every route to win,” Pitts said. “If the ball comes my way, to make something out of the opportunity.”
Pitts did just that against the Lions.
“It comes from during the week, just having those reps,” Pitts said. “You get that in during the week. That deep ball was contested, but going out there and completing in a game is something that we all look toward.”
Smith, a former tight ends coach, has been heavily involved with Pitts’ development along with tight ends coach Justin Peelle.
“It’s a long season for a rookie,” Smith said. “He’s just scratching the surface. He made the Pro Bowl. He broke a franchise record, most starts in a season by a tight end, and he’s just getting started. He’s a rookie.”
Smith is proud of the work that Pitts has put in.
“I told him the other day when he made the Pro Bowl, he’s just scratching the surface,” Smith said. “If he can continue to improve, we’ll see where this thing goes.”
Ryan wasn’t sure how many times the Falcons practiced the deep passes with Pitts.
“It’s hard to put a number (on it),” Ryan said. “He probably gets annoyed with me sometimes because he’s got to do the bulk of the running. I’m just kind of throwing it up there. But I do hammer home with those guys, I believe the way you get better is you work at it.”
It looked like the same deep route that Ryan connected with Cordarrelle Patterson up the right sideline against New Orleans.
Pitts has impressed the veterans with his work ethic.
“Yeah, early on he had a great work ethic, was willing to go out there and put in the work,” Ryan said. “I always think that there comes a time in the season where it gets tough, and I’ve been very impressed with him for pushing through that and continuing to go out there.”
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