-
nick wagner
Santa Clara, California – via Signal, san francisco 49ers Coach Kyle Shanahan wanted Sunday’s game against atlanta falcons It’s going to be a big night for the running backs Christian McCaffrey,
On Saturday, Shanahan challenged his team to get 40 carries against the Falcons, a number that reflected the Niners controlling the line of scrimmage and handing it off to McCaffrey early and often.
tight end george kittelHis comeback from a right hamstring injury, which caused him to miss five games, was less subtle.
“Every Saturday night, our tight end coach [Brian] Fleury wants all the tight ends to get up in the front of the room and set a goal,” Kittle said. “Anywhere from dominating the edge, tight end touchdowns, whatever the goal is. And my goal this week was CMC [to be] NFC Player of the Week. And if I really said that, it might be the best guess ever.”
After the 49ers finalized it win 20-10 Kittle’s goal to improve to 5-2 seemed highly realistic, if not likely. McCaffrey, who remains the focal point of the Niners’ offense despite persistent injuries, had his best performance in a season full of them.
By the time McCaffrey finished, he had posted a season-high 129 rushing yards on 24 carries with two touchdowns on the ground. He led the Niners with seven catches for 72 yards, including a 17-yard catch on third-and-13 before his game-sealing 4-yard touchdown run.
Those 201 scrimmage yards were the most by McCaffrey as a Niner and accounted for 62% of the team’s yards from scrimmage, the highest percentage for any player this season. And while the 49ers didn’t reach 40 rushes on the night, they did rush for 39 for a season-high 174 yards, an average of 4.5 yards per carry, also a season high.
In the process, McCaffrey continued to etch his name into both the franchise and league record books when it comes to all-purpose production. In other words:
-
It was McCaffrey’s sixth game with over 50 rushing yards and over 50 receiving yards this season, the most by any player in any team’s first seven games in NFL history.
-
It was McCaffrey’s ninth career game with over 100 rushing yards and over 50 receiving yards, tied for third-most games in NFL history behind Jim Brown and Priest Holmes.
-
McCaffrey joined Roger Craig (1988) as the only 49ers players with seven straight games of over 100 scrimmage yards to start the season.
Through Sunday night games, McCaffrey leads the NFL in scrimmage yards (981) and his six total touchdowns rank fourth. Despite struggling mightily in the run game during the first six games, McCaffrey is on pace for over 1,000 yards each rushing and receiving and, at his current rate, will surpass the NFL record of 1,097 receiving yards by a running back in a season with extra room.
“He’s huge,” Shanahan said. “He’s the most consistent player I’ve been around. He allows you to stay on track. He gets every yard and more in the run game and what he does in the pass game… It’s rare that you throw the ball to him and not complete.”
After another great performance, McCaffrey was quick to credit his teammates. It was no coincidence that the 49ers’ run game took off upon Kittle’s return. When Kittle was on the field, McCaffrey had 20 rushes for 126 yards and two touchdowns, while when he was not on the field he had 4 rushes for 3 yards.
Although Kittle’s streak of 114 games with a reception ended, his presence was not only felt as a blocker in the run game, but he also attracted the attention of defenders. On a third-and-13 completion to help seal the game, the quarterback mac jones He said he saw several Falcons covering Kittle, leaving McCaffrey easily one-on-one for a first down.
“It’s a different ball game when he’s in there,” McCaffrey said. “Even when he doesn’t have a big statistical game, the attention he gets gets a lot of chances… When you have guys like that on the field, their mere presence instills a lot of fear in coordinators and so you have to keep an eye on them.”
Kittle’s return wasn’t the only emotional accomplishment for the 49ers. After losing star linebacker fred warner (right ankle surgery) For the season, the Niners spent the week answering the question of how the defense would fare without Warner (and star defensive end nick bossaWho suffered a torn right ACL in Week 3).
niners linebacker Dee Winters Warner arrived at the game wearing his No. 54 jersey, several players were warming up wearing shirts with Warner’s face on them, and Warner received a standing ovation before the game when he arrived on the field riding a scooter with his right foot and ankle in disarray. During the game, Warner was shown holding his young son in a suite, cheering so loudly that Kittle joked that the Niners’ offense almost had to go on a silent count in that game.
Perhaps no one was more motivated by Warner’s absence than the second-year linebacker tatum bethuneHis replacement. Bethune said he shed a few tears before the game, not just because Warner was out, but because he and the defense had a chance to prove to doubters that they could still slow down opponents.
For the second consecutive week, Bethune finished with 10 tackles, leading a Niners defense that limited Atlanta to 292 yards on 4.9 yards per game, including a season-low 62 rushing yards.
“I saw it all and defensively we didn’t talk about it but I felt a certain way about it,” Bethune said. “I was emotional before the game… It’s unfortunate that Fred got hurt, but it’s also an opportunity for me to expand and get better before he comes back.”
