Christian McCaffrey’s return benefitted 49ers in less obvious way — but their issues are far from fixed

The San Francisco 49ers got a big piece of their offense back on Sunday with superstar running back Christian McCaffrey returning to the lineup, and they needed his influence on the field to take down a feisty Buccaneers team 23-20.

McCaffrey missed the first eight games of the season with calf and Achilles injuries.

“I feel pretty good,” McCaffrey said. “I thought I was going to be a lot more sore.”

That said, despite three missed field goals (which led to a testy sideline altercation) making the victory tighter than it should have been, they still weren’t back to the same old 49ers that the league has grown used to. Their playoff hopes received a jolt by getting back to over .500, but even in a win, they showed that just getting back McCaffrey might not alleviate their woes as they try to chase that ever-elusive Super Bowl title.

Despite going against one of the weaker rushing defenses in the league, the 49ers were largely bottled up on the ground. According to TruMedia, this was the 49ers’ worst game of the season in terms of yards per rush, success rate, expected points gained on rushes and first down per rush attempt. They were just manhandled up front, with no real answers for Vita Vea and the rest of the Buccaneers’ front seven. Due to that, McCaffrey finished the game with just 39 yards on 13 carries, which is an uncharacteristically low output for him. The offensive line performance today was a concern, particularly among the interior (although every team doesn’t have a Vita Vea at nose tackle).

Where McCaffrey did help was in the passing game. He had six catches for 68 yards, including a big time 30-yard catch where he and Brock Purdy helped keep a play alive. McCaffrey was second on the team behind George Kittle in expected points generated on targets and was much more effective in this manner. San Francisco had much more success through the air, with Purdy throwing for 353 yards on just 36 attempts. McCaffrey played a big role in their success…

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Author : Yahoo Sports

Publish date : 2024-11-10 23:08:32

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