Christian McCaffrey Makes the 49ers Offense Go

Wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk was named the NFC Offensive Player of the Week for his performance against the Steelers. Quarterback Brock Purdy looked more than comfortable in his first full game back from injury. But it’s running back Christian McCaffrey who makes this 49ers offense go.

Kyle Shanahan’s rushing attack is as intricate and fun to watch as any in the NFL. The play-design alone generates so many of the offense’s yards. But as important as scheme is in football, it can only take a team so far. It’s the talent executing the scheme that can make it elite.

McCaffrey is helping take this running game and offense to that next level.

The 49ers are now 13-2 since acquiring McCaffrey during the 2022 regular season. Those two losses were in his very first game after the trade (when he was a smaller part of the gameplan) and in the NFC Championship Game (when the 49ers played without a quarterback).

In Week 1 against the Steelers, McCaffrey’s value to the offense was on full display. He rushed for 152 yards and a touchdown on 22 carries. 10 of those 22 carries gained at least 5 yards. 4 gained at least 10.

Each of the runs I’ll show below had some good blocks up front. However, McCaffrey’s abilities are largely what turned them into big plays.

On this first example, the 49ers were running duo to their right:

McCaffrey took the hand off and got his eyes on the linebacker behind the double-team in front of him: