49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan challenged his team to run the ball 40 times before Sunday night’s game against the Falcons, but they wound up falling just short of that total in a 20-10 win.
They ran the ball 39 times for 174 yards and Christian McCaffrey led the way with 24 carries for a season-high 129 yards and two touchdowns. McCaffrey also caught seven passes for 72 yards and his 201 yards accounted for 62 percent of the yards that the 49ers gained over the course of the evening.
McCaffrey has now posted at least 100 scrimmage yards in all seven games this season. Roger Craig is the only other 49ers player to do that in the first seven games of a season and Shanahan pointed to McCaffrey’s consistency when asked about the back’s big night.
“He’s huge. He is the most consistent player I’ve been around,” Shanahan said, via 49ersWebzone.com. “I mean, he just allows you to stay on track. He gets every yard in the run game and more and what he does in the pass game, it’s rare you’re going to throw the ball to him and not get a completion.”
McCaffrey’s injury history is well documented, but he’s been the one player the 49ers have been able to count on every week this season and he’s the biggest reason that they’re 5-2 despite all of the other missing pieces. The Niners will hope to get healthier, but McCaffrey’s still going to be the center of attention.
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