SANTA CLARA, California. — San Francisco 49ers Coach Kyle Shanahan hinted that he wants Sunday's game against Atlanta Falcons it's going to be a big night for running back Christian McCaffrey.
On Saturday, Shanahan challenged his team to get 40 carries against the Falcons, a number that would mean the Niners controlled the line of scrimmage and got the ball to McCaffrey early and often.
tight end George Kittlereturning from a right hamstring injury that forced him to miss five games was less subtle.
“Every Saturday night our tight end coach [Brian] Fleury wants all the tight ends to stand in front of the room and set a goal,” Kittle said. – Anywhere: Dominate edges, tight end and any target. And my goal this week was CMC [to be] NFC Player of the Week. And if I really called it that, it might be the best guess of all time.”
After the 49ers put the finishing touches on victory with a score of 20-10 improve to 5-2, Kittle's goal looked extremely realistic. McCaffrey, who has remained the focal point of the Niners' offense despite the team's injury woes, had his best game in a season full of such attacks.
By the time McCaffrey finished the game, he had a season-high 129 yards on 24 carries and 2 rushing touchdowns. He also led the Niners in receiving with seven catches for 72 yards, including a 17-yard grab on third-and-13 before his game-tying 4-yard touchdown.
His 201 scrimmage yards were the most for McCaffrey as a nine and accounted for 62% of the team's yards from scrimmage, the highest percentage of any player in a game this season. And while the 49ers finished one shy of Shanahan's goal of 40 carries, they gained a season-high 174 yards on 39 attempts, an average of 4.5 yards per carry, also a season-high.
McCaffrey continued to etch his name into the franchise and league record books for all-purpose production.
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It was McCaffrey's sixth game this season in which he gained over 50 yards rushing and over 50 yards receiving, the most by any player in NFL history through the team's first seven games.
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It was McCaffrey's ninth career game with over 100 receiving yards and over 50 receiving yards, tying Jim Brown and Priest Holmes for third most in NFL history.
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McCaffrey joined Roger Craig (1988) as the only 49ers to have seven straight 100-plus yard games to open the season.
Coming into Sunday's games, McCaffrey leads the NFL in rushing yards (981) and his six total touchdowns are tied for fourth most. Even though the running game has struggled mightily in the first six games, McCaffrey is on track to rack up over 1,000 rushing and receiving yards, and at his current pace, he will surpass the NFL record of 1,097 receiving yards per running back in a season with room to spare.
“He's huge,” Shanahan said. “He is the most consistent player I have ever come across. It just keeps you on track. He gets every yard in the run game and more, and what he does in the passing game … it's rare that you throw the ball to him and not get a completion.”
After another successful performance, McCaffrey was quick to give credit to his teammates. It's no coincidence that the 49ers' game took off after Kittle returned. McCaffrey had 20 rushes for 126 yards and two touchdowns when Kittle was on the field, compared to four rushes for 3 yards when he wasn't.
Although Kittle's 114-game receiving streak ended, his presence was felt not only as a blocker in the run game, but also in the attention he drew from defenders. On the third-and-13 completion that would help seal the win, 49ers quarterback Mac Jones said he saw several Falcons cover Kittle, leaving McCaffrey one-on-one for an easy first down.
“It's a whole different game when he's there,” McCaffrey said. “Even when he doesn't have a big statistical game, the attention he gets is so eye-opening. … When you have guys like that on the field, their mere presence puts a lot of fear into coordinators, so they have to be watched.”
Kittle's return wasn't the only emotional boost for the 49ers. After losing star midfielder Fred Warner (right ankle surgery) the Niners spent a week this season answering questions about how the defense would manage without Warner (and star guard Nick Bosawho suffered a rupture of the right cruciate ligament in the 3rd week).
Niners linebacker Dee Winters arrived at the game wearing Warner's No. 54 jersey, several players warmed up in jerseys with Warner's face on them, and Warner received a loud ovation before the game when he took the field on a scooter. During the game, Warner was shown holding his young son in the hotel room, and it drew such loud applause that Kittle joked that the Niners' offense almost had to go into silent counting for the game.
Perhaps no one was more inspired by Warner's absence than his successor, the sophomore linebacker. Tatum Bethune. Bethune said he cried before the game not only because Warner was out of the game, but because of the opportunity to prove to doubters that the 49ers defense can still slow down opponents.
For the second week in a row, Bethune finished with 10 tackles, leading a Niners defense that held Atlanta to 292 yards at 4.9 yards per play, including a season-high 62 yards.
“I saw it all, and as a defense we didn't talk about it, but I had some opinions about it,” Bethune said. “I was excited before the game…Unfortunately Fred got injured, but it's also an opportunity for me to expand and get better while I can before he comes back.”
