Christian McCaffrey’s return helps 49ers return to roots

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — In some ways, Christian McCaffreyHis return to the San Francisco 49ers lineup on Sunday was nothing new.

McCaffrey has seen and done nearly everything a player can experience during his first seven seasons in the NFL, including coming back from major injuries. But just before his team’s 23-20 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, McCaffrey found himself stopping, taking a breath and feeling every step back from bilateral Achilles tendinitis.

“I try to feel the emotions as they come,” McCaffrey said. “I’m just trying to stay calm and of course when you play an NFL football game there’s a lot of emotions… Nobody wants to be on the field more than me. To be out there again, to be honest with you, you really realize how privileged it is to play Football.”

After an eight-game, nine-week delay, McCaffrey made his 2024 debut against the Buccaneers, and despite the initial plan to relieve McCaffrey a little more, his role looked very similar to his role when he won the title in 2023. NFL’s Offensive Player of the Year award.

McCaffrey was on the field for 57 games; This was six more than the team’s average last season, while accounting for 88% of the team’s offensive snaps. McCaffrey managed 107 rushing yards on 19 touches; This was just under last season’s average of 126.4 and 21.

McCaffrey’s outsized role should perhaps come as no surprise, given his prominence on the offense in recent seasons and, more importantly, his hopes of putting together a second-half surge.

“He had a great run, that was huge,” 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan said. “We knew it would be difficult to manage.”

On the surface, McCaffrey’s return wasn’t the panacea the Niners were hoping for. This did not lead to an offensive explosion with goals aplenty. San Francisco once again struggled in the red zone, scoring on just one of its three drives inside Tampa’s 20.

Still, McCaffrey delivered some of his usual highlights, including his basket catch from the point guard. Brock Purdy The 49ers went for a 30-yard gain while trailing by four points in the fourth quarter.

It was the longest reception of the season by a 49ers running back. McCaffrey’s six receptions for 68 yards nearly surpassed backup Jordan MasonHe had 10 catches for a total of 86 yards in the first eight games.

“They need to plan for that defensively,” Purdy said. “They need to accept him and that could pave the way for other guys.”

In fact, just having McCaffrey back on the field helped the 49ers offense begin to return to its roots. Like other teams playing the 49ers this season, the Bucs played more man coverage than usual, and their preferred zone coverage dropped from an average of 75.7% to 60% against San Francisco.

McCaffrey found himself in single play against linebacker on multiple occasions (beat against Bucs). Lavonte David for the 30-yarder) to have multiple eyes on the man or when Tampa is in the zone.

The result was an offense that, like 49ers teams in recent years, operated down the middle of the field with extra yards after the catch (YAC). The Niners racked up 210 yards between points (third-best this season) while posting a season-high in YAC (175).

Purdy put together one of the best second halves of his young career, capitalizing on Tampa’s blitz-heavy defensive attack and distributing the ball to all pass catchers.

San Francisco had five players with more than 50 receiving yards. Recipients in addition to McCaffrey Jauan Jennings (93), Deebo Samuel Sr.. (62) and Ricky Pearsall (73) and tight end George Kittle (50) all went over 50, tying the franchise record for most 50-plus yards by a receiver in a game. The 49ers did it three more times.

“It’s hard to double guard anyone when he’s there because if you do that you leave Christian alone with the defender most of the time,” Kittle said. “It opens up that space for us… It makes everyone’s life so much easier.”

Perhaps no one benefits more than Purdy. After a sloppy first half in which he missed numerous high throws, Purdy settled in, going 10-of-14 for 160 yards and a touchdown in the fourth quarter. With McCaffrey available as the safety valve, Purdy sparked Tampa’s offense, going 13-of-15 for 225 yards and a touchdown when the Bucs sent an extra pass rusher. That included 8-of-10 passes for 138 yards in the fourth quarter, the most completions and passing yards against the blitz in a quarter of Purdy’s career.

There’s a lot of work to be done to ensure McCaffrey is fully reintegrated and takes the next step, where the offense regularly advances with finishing red zone touchdowns.

Maybe that could happen on Sunday against the Seattle Seahawks (4:05 ET, Fox), where McCaffrey has had a lot of success throughout his career. According to ESPN Research, McCaffrey averaged 163 rushing yards per game against Seattle during his career, the third-highest of any player in NFL history who has played five games against a single team.

McCaffrey recorded at least 125 rushing yards in all six games against the Seahawks. If he can do it again Sunday, he will join Jim Brown (vs. Philadelphia) as the only players in NFL history (including playoffs) to have seven consecutive games of 125-plus rushing yards against an opponent.

By his own account, McCaffrey wasn’t exactly where he wanted to be in his debut, but he also didn’t look or feel that far off.

“There are maybe a few things where I don’t feel like 100% myself,” McCaffrey said. “But that’s normal when you haven’t played for a long time. I will learn and grow from these and continue to improve.”