Christian McCaffrey leads 49ers past former Panthers team on Monday Night

Christian McCaffrey faced his former team the Carolina Panthers for the first time since being traded to the San Francisco 49ers in 2022.

The All-Pro running back helped San Francisco to a 20-9 win on “Monday Night Football” by finding the end zone and leading both teams in total yards from scrimmage.

49ers (8-4) are now firmly in the NFC playoff picture, while the Panthers (6-6) missed a chance to take sole possession of the NFC South lead.

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While McCaffrey shined on the prime-time stage, it was a tough night for both quarterbacks.

Brock Purdy, who threw three touchdowns in his return game last week, struggled with turnovers, throwing three interceptions on consecutive possessions in the first half.

San Francisco opened the game strong with a 15-play, 75-yard touchdown drive capped by Purdy's short pass to Juan Jennings, who punted three Panther defenders to score. But after a quick three-and-out from the Panthers, Purdy's first pass of the next series was picked off by Jaycee Horn, giving the ball to Carolina at the San Francisco 16-yard line.

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But it wasn't just Purdy's losses that night—Young had some issues as well.

On first-and-goal, Young appeared to have space to run toward the pylon, but instead attempted to throw a pass to tight end Mitchell Evans. Ji'Ayir Brown was right there to catch the interception in the end zone and bail Purdy out on his earlier mistake.

Unfortunately for San Francisco, Purdy was picked off in the opposite end zone by Mike Jackson as he tried to find Ricky Pearsall for a touchdown. The route was read perfectly by the veteran cornerback. After the replay, tight end George Kittle appeared wide open and could have scored with a short pass, but Purdy was hoping for a big play on the throw.

Purdy then really kicked himself after Horn made his second interception of the game – a clever play where he was roaming freely down the middle of the field and Purdy just didn't see him on a pass intended for Pearsall. The Panthers finally scored points after a field goal cut the deficit to 7-3.

The score was only 10-3 at halftime, but in the third quarter the 49ers finally got McCaffrey into the end zone against his former team. His 12-yard touchdown run capped a 13-play, 80-yard drive past San Francisco, where the star quarterback received key blocks from Kittle and cornerback Kyle Juszczyk to reach the end zone.

McCaffrey finished the game with 89 yards on seven catches for 53 yards.

The Panthers weren't completely out of the game despite a 17-3 deficit, thanks to rookie receiver Tetairoa McMillan, who hit Young from 29 yards with 49 seconds left in the third quarter to make it a 17-9 game after a failed two-point conversion.

The 49ers created some separation after another field goal, but the Panthers still had enough time in the fourth quarter to make the game interesting. Unfortunately for them, Brown jumped over the center intended for McMillan and Young threw the ball straight to him.

The interception all but froze the game as Ryan Fitzgerald missed a 57-yard field goal with 2:47 left in the fourth quarter during the Panthers' desperate attempt to score points.

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Based on box scores, Kittle led the game with 78 yards on six catches, while Jennings finished with 41 yards on five catches.

For the Panthers, Rico Dowdle, Chuba Hubbard and Young combined for just 69 yards, although Dowdle had four catches for 36 yards. Hubbard added four catches for 27 yards.

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