SANTA CLARA, Calif. — San Francisco 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan hinted that he wants Sunday’s game against the Atlanta Falcons to be a big night for running back Christian McCaffrey.
On Saturday, Shanahan challenged his team to catch 40 passes against the Falcons, a number that suggested the Niners controlled the line of scrimmage and handed the ball to McCaffrey early and often.
George Kittle, who returned from a right hamstring injury that caused him to miss five games, was less accurate.
“Every Saturday night, our tight ends coach [Brian] “Fleury wants all the tight ends to step up in front of the room and set a target,” Kittle said. “Anywhere from edge control, tight landings, whatever the goals are. My goal this week was CMC [to be] NFC Player of the Week. And if you actually call that, that might be your best guess ever.”
After the 49ers put together a 20-10 win to improve to 5-2, Kittle’s goal seemed very realistic. McCaffrey, who has remained the focal point of the Niners’ offense despite the unit’s injury woes, had his best performance in a season full of them.
By the time McCaffrey had recorded a season-high 129 yards on 24 carries with two rushing touchdowns. He also led the Niners in receiving with seven catches for 72 yards, including a 17-yard catch on third-and-13 before his 4-yard touchdown run to seal the game.
The 201 yards from scrimmage were the most by McCaffrey as a Niner and accounted for 62% of the team’s yards from scrimmage, the highest by any player in a game this season. And although the 49ers finished one shy of Shanahan’s goal of 40 carries, they collected 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 annals of all-purpose production.
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It was McCaffrey’s sixth game of the season with 50-plus receiving yards and 50-plus receiving yards, the most for any player in NFL history through the team’s first seven games.
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This was McCaffrey’s ninth career game with 100+ receiving yards and 50+ receiving yards, tied with Jim Brown and Priest Holmes for third most in NFL history.
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McCaffrey joins Roger Craig (1988) as the only 49ers with seven consecutive games of 100+ scrimmage yards to open a season.
Through Sunday night’s games, McCaffrey leads the NFL in scrimmage yards (981), and his six total touchdowns rank fourth. Although the running game has struggled badly through the first six games, McCaffrey is on pace to gain over 1,000 yards each rushing and receiving, and at his current rate, he will pass the NFL record of 1,097 yards by a running back in a season with room to spare.
“It’s huge,” Shanahan said. “He’s the most consistent player I’ve ever been around. He just allows you to stay 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 him the ball and he doesn’t finish it.”
After another do-it-all performance, McCaffrey quickly credited his teammates. It was no coincidence that the 49ers started the game on Kittle’s return. 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 streak ended with a reception, his presence was felt not only as a blocker in the running game but in the attention he attracted from defenders. On a third-and-13 completion to help seal the win, 49ers quarterback Mac Jones said he saw several Falcons covering Kittle, leaving McCaffrey one-on-one for an easy first down.
“It’s a different ballgame when he’s out there,” McCaffrey said. “Even when he doesn’t have a big statistical game, the attention he gets just opens up a lot… When you have guys like that on the field, just their presence alone creates a lot of fear in coordinators and so you have to keep an eye on them.”
Kittle’s return wasn’t the only emotional boost for the 49ers. After losing star linebacker Fred Warner (right ankle surgery) for the season, the Niners spent the week answering questions about how the defense would perform without Warner (and star defensive end Nick Bosa, who suffered a torn right ACL in Week 3).
Niners linebacker Dee Winters arrived at the game wearing Warner’s No. 54 jersey, several players warmed up wearing a jersey with Warner’s face on it, and Warner received a standing ovation before the game when he made his way onto the field with the help of a motorcycle. During the game, Warner was shown holding his young son in a wing and elicited cheers so loud that Kittle joked that the Niners’ offense was about to go to a silent count on that play.
Perhaps no one was more inspired by Warner’s absence than his replacement, second-year linebacker Tatum Bethune. Bethune said he cried before the game, not just because Warner was off the field, but to get a chance to prove to doubters that the 49ers’ defense can still slow down opponents.
For the second straight week, Bethune finished with 10 tackles, leading a Niners defense that held Atlanta to 292 yards on 4.9 yards per game, including a season-low 62 yards.
“I saw it all, and as a defense we didn’t talk about it, but I felt a certain way about it,” Bethune said. “I was emotional before the game… It’s unfortunate that Fred was injured, but it’s also an opportunity for me to be able to expand and improve as much as possible before he comes back.”