Should George Kittle be worried about the Vikings' abnormally strong tight end defense?

George Kittle of the San Francisco 49ers reacts against the New Orleans Saints during a game at the Mercedes Benz Superdome on December 8, 2019 in New Orleans, Louisiana. George Kittle of the San Francisco 49ers reacts against the New Orleans Saints during a game at the Mercedes Benz Superdome on December 8, 2019 in New Orleans, Louisiana. Photo: Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images Photo: Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images Image 1 of / 12 Caption Close Should George Kittle be worried about the Vikings' abnormally strong tight end defense? 1 / 12 Back to Gallery

George Kittle is probably the best tight end in the NFL, but statistically speaking, the Minnesota Vikings have had the league's best defense against tight ends this season.

According to Pro Football Focus' Jeff Deeney, Mike Zimmer's Vikings defense is allowing a passer rating of just 60.3 to opposing tight ends, which is by far the lowest such mark in the NFL. The second-best tight end defense belongs to the 49ers, who are allowing a passer rating of 88.4 to opposing TEs.

When asked what makes the Vikings' tight end defense so strong, Deeney highlighted the play of safeties Anthony Harris and Harrison Smith, as well as inside linebacker Eric Kendricks.

This seems ominous for the 49ers in lead-up for their Saturday divisional round playoff game against the Vikings. But just because the Vikings are allowing a low passer rating to opposing tight ends, that doesn't mean tight ends haven't had any production.

In Week 1, Atlanta Falcons tight end Austin Hooper recorded nine receptions for 77 yards against Minnesota, and the Oakland Raiders' Darren Waller caught 13 passes for 134 yards when playing the Vikings in Week 3. Hooper caught all nine of his targets, and Waller caught all but one of his 14 targets.

What these numbers won't tell you is that most of this production came with the Falcons and Raiders trailing by multiple scores, as the Vikings won these two games by 16 and 20 points, respectively.

Only once this season has Minnesota played a close game against a tight end that recorded over 800 receiving yards during the 2019 season. That came in Week 9 vs. the Kansas City Chiefs, when the Vikings played against Travis Kelce, who was catching passes from backup quarterback Matt Moore (Patrick Mahomes was out with a knee injury).

Kelce was targeted nine times, and caught seven of them for 62 yards. Neither of the two incompletions were interceptions, as Moore played a clean game overall (completing 25 of 35 passes for 275 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions).

The longest reception of the day for Kelce was 17 yards, as the Vikings were determined not to give up anything down the field. As for how this translates to what could happen for the 49ers and Kittle against the Vikings?

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Per fantasy football advanced stats website RotoWire, Kittle's average depth of target (how far down the field he is per target) is just 5.8 yards, which is in the bottom third for tight ends across the league. In other words, Kittle is typically catching the ball closer to the line of scrimmage than most other tight ends. By comparison, Kelce's average depth of target is 8.9 yards, which ranks in the league's top third.

Kittle is prolific in picking up yards after the catch, as his 7.3 yards after catch average ranks among the league's best, whereas Kelce's 4.9 yards after catch average is middle of the pack.

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The Vikings gave Kelce (and other tight ends across the league) the short stuff, but if they do so against Kittle, they had better make sure they tackle the man who legitimately believes he can't be tackled. Finding Kittle further down the field will tougher than it usually is, but fortunately for the 49ers and Kittle, their offensive game-plan isn't usually completely dependent on it.

This leads one to believe the 49ers should be cognizant of, but not overly worried about, the Vikings' much-vaunted tight end defense.

Eric Ting is an SFGATE digital reporter. Email: eric.ting@sfgate.com | Twitter:@_ericting