Christian McCaffrey Carries the 49ers in 31-14 win Against the Rams
It's alive!
The offense of the San Francisco 49ers has come alive and it is all thanks to Christian McCaffrey. You cannot rave enough about the performance he had today.
McCaffrey carried the 49ers in the 31-14 win against the Rams to finalize yet another sweep in four-consecutive seasons. The statline for McCaffrey is insane. He had one passing, receiving, and rushing touchdown along with 183 total yards. The impact that Deebo Samuel had in the offense for the second-half of the season easily was replicated by McCaffrey today.
This is why the 49ers acquired McCaffrey. They needed that extra explosive player who can improve the pass game, run game, and take attention away from Samuel. Defenses were selling out to stop Samuel and the run game. Now that McCaffrey is clearly embedded into the full playbook, which is a vastly impressive feat to do in a short timeframe, the return of Samuel to pair with McCaffrey is going to be a nightmare.
Suddenly, the offense of the 49ers looks like it is going to be exciting to watch the rest of the way. This is looking like the 2021 season all over again for the 49ers. They make a move in the offense to get them to be more explosive and sure enough it is against the Rams. The 49ers now go into their Bye week with a .500 record and with a ton to be encouraged about.
Not only is McCaffrey bringing the offense to life, but the second-half offense finally had a breakthrough. Kyle Shanahan had himself a solid play calling day. He didn't look inept today and had a great feel for the game. Jimmy Garoppolo had his low moments, but overall had himself a smooth performance despite pass protection being rough.
The defense of the 49ers got back on track despite looking putrid on third-down again. Still, they are a unit that is elite and if they can get that help from the offense to control the time of possession, then it will make it easier on them to come out and perform at a high-level. I have been saying all season long that the 49ers cannot ride the coattails of their defense. The offense has to carry their own weight. Not only did they carry their own weight, they went above and beyond. Shanahan has McCaffrey to thank for that.
Everything was all doom and gloom after the embarrassing Chiefs loss and rightfully so. But now a season sweep against the Rams with McCaffrey going off gives the 49ers a bright and encouraging path to feel hopeful about as they make their playoff push.
