Seamus Carr brings you all the biggest storylines from Week 8, including the revival of one of the game’s biggest stars and some surprising developments from an offense that everyone thought was dead.
Christian McCaffrey Is Back
The San Francisco 49ers took on their bitter rival Los Angeles Rams in a huge divisional matchup on Sunday. In a critical game to keep pace with the division-leading Seattle Seahawks, the 49ers turned to their newly acquired, all-world running back Christian McCaffrey to secure the victory. McCaffrey saw a massive workload with 26 total touches. He carried the ball 18 times for 94 yards and a touchdown. He also saw nine targets that he turned into eight catches for 55 yards and another score. He even passed for a 34-yard TD, completing the rushing, receiving, and passing triple-crown of touchdowns. There seems to be literally nothing that McCaffrey cannot do.
San Francisco Is the Ideal Fit for McCaffrey
In the wake of his trade from Carolina a week and a half ago, there had been some skepticism that the trade to San Francisco was a benefit to McCaffrey’s value and perhaps a break-even at best. San Francisco, to that point, had not featured their running backs in the passing game and some felt that without his receiving workload, his likely increased TD efficiency on the 49ers would result in a wash. McCaffrey put that argument to rest on Sunday, with his nine targets being more than any San Francisco running back has garnered dating back through 2019. His pairing with Jimmy Garoppolo is an ideal fit with how the quarterback deals with pressure.
Sure, rumors of CMC’s possible trade gave us visions of pairings with Patrick Mahomes or Josh Allen and thoughts about what McCaffrey might have been able to do within those offenses. But both those quarterbacks are often looking deeper than check downs to their running back. With their ability to extend plays and their cannon arms, their eyes are downfield looking for a receiver to break free for a long gain. When the pressure is bearing down on Garoppolo, he’s looking at his outlet. Whereas in the past that might have been a small gain, any of these quick passes to McCaffrey can turn into an explosive play. He’s quickly turned into Garoppolo’s safety blanket. That’s a benefit to both his floor and his sky-high ceiling.
