On Saturday, the San Francisco 49ers will begin their latest quest for their sixth Super Bowl championship when they host the surprising and upstart Green Bay Packers.
While 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy had a sensational season and their passing offense finished fourth in yards and second in touchdowns, they are, at their core, a ground-and-pound football team.
Running back Christian McCaffrey is at the heart of that identity, and he was dominant this season with 1,459 rushing yards and 14 rushing touchdowns despite sitting out the regular season finale.
In fact, when one includes the playoffs, he is fourth all-time in total yards from scrimmage per game in NFL history behind only Barry Sanders, Terrell Davis, and Jim Brown, which is some awesome company, per NFL GameDay.
Run Christian Run #FTTB | #NFLPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/DPui1cSaN9
— NFL GameDay (@NFLGameDay) January 19, 2024
In addition to his production on the ground in the regular season, McCaffrey also had 564 receiving yards and seven receiving touchdowns, giving him a total of 2,023 yards and 21 touchdowns from scrimmage this season.
Many teams are happy to have a productive tailback who is reliable when it comes to screen passes, but McCaffrey can also run routes and even line up as a wide receiver.
San Francisco was already a very good team over the last few years, but when they traded for him midway through last season, he greatly raised their ceiling, and he seems like a perfect fit for head coach Kyle Shanahan’s offense.
Thanks largely to McCaffrey, they’re not only the favorites to come out of the NFC but also the favorites to win the Vince Lombardi Trophy.
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