The San Francisco 49ers amassed 368 total yards against the Los Angeles Rams in Sunday's 31-14 victory at SoFi Stadium. Running back Christian McCaffrey proved he could do everything on the way to his 183 all-purpose-yard performance, which accounted for nearly half of the 49ers' total yards.
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McCaffrey became one of three running backs to earn at least one passing touchdown, rushing touchdown, and receiving touchdown in a single game since the 1970 NFL merger, per NFL Research. The other two are LaDainian Tomlinson (2005) and Walter Payton (1979). So that's pretty good company for the 49ers running back.
Jimmy Garoppolo admits that McCaffrey wasn't really part of the progression on his touchdown throw to the running back.
"Basically went through the whole read, left to right," Garoppolo explained. "Came back to Christian. He wasn't even really in the read, and he turned it upfield. That's just being a football player."
Garoppolo guessed that McCaffrey was probably the fifth read in the progression of that play.
"That really wasn't how it was scripted," he added. "He just made a play."
McCaffrey's touchdown pass was the second of his career. He had one against the New Orleans Saints in Week 15 of the 2018 season while with the Carolina Panthers.
"The throw was all right," Garoppolo jokingly said. "The catch was a lot better."
Another teammate was more impressed by the throw.
"That was a dot," tight end George Kittle said after the game. "Perfect. Right to [wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk]. Like I said, the pass was awesome, the catch was awesome."
The 49ers are probably feeling pretty good about their decision to acquire the star player, who spent his first five-plus seasons with the Carolina Panthers before an October 20 trade sent him back to the Bay Area (he played college football at Stanford).
"Another weapon always helps," defensive end Nick Bosa said. "Without [wide receiver] Deebo [Samuel] in there, I think he came in and did an amazing job. ... He plays our style, and I think he's only going to get better and better."
Linebacker Fred Warner added, "Man, I'm happy he's on our side."
Kittle was impressed by McCaffrey's triple crown performance. Kittle was involved in the play where McCaffrey hauled in his touchdown pass. The tight end believes the ball could have been thrown his way but was glad someone came down with it. Besides, Kittle hauled in his own touchdown catch later in the game.
"The catch was pretty filthy, too, in the back of the end zone," Kittle admitted. "He's a hell of a football player. One of my favorite things about him so far ... being next to him in the locker room, seeing the work that he puts in, the time that he spends with the coaches, trying to figure out our offense ... he put in so much time in just one week. You really appreciate that because you can tell how great he wants to be. I think it just kind of pushes us all a little bit more, too.
"Also, he's very talented. You see the cuts that he makes. Makes guys miss. He's slippery. I think he's only going to get better in our offense. Hopefully, we can continue to give him the ball and open up those lanes for him."
McCaffrey played last weekend against the Kansas City Chiefs, just two days after arriving in Santa Clara to join his new team. During that game, you could see Garoppolo giving the running back extra instructions heading to the line of scrimmage before several plays.
Against the Rams, McCaffrey had a better grasp of the playbook's language.
"He was clean today," Garoppolo shared, meaning McCaffrey didn't have questions during Sunday's game. "I credit him for all the studying and stuff he does. That ain't easy. I've been in that situation before, and just the whirlwind that's going on around you, to focus on the game plan like that takes a special individual."
