Christian McCaffrey was a machine on Sunday afternoon. The San Francisco 49ers running back was unreal in the team's 35-16 win over the Arizona Cardinals. Much to the delight of fantasy football owners who have the veteran running back on their rosters, McCaffrey racked up 106 rushing yards and three rushing touchdowns on 20 carries. He added seven receptions for 71 yards and a receiving touchdown.
It was a bit unfair. The running back had his way with the Cardinals' defense, as he does with so many NFL defenses. With his first touchdown, McCaffrey broke Jerry Rice's franchise record for the most consecutive games with one or more touchdowns. Sunday was his 13th such game, including the playoffs.
"That means a lot," McCaffrey said of the record. "Yeah, I mean, touchdowns are a lot of fun, so hopefully we can keep it rolling."
It was also his third time this season surpassing 106 rushing yards in a game. His four touchdowns in a single game is a career-high. Needless to say, McCaffrey has the respect of his teammates. Even one who didn't have a lot of respect for NFL running backs in the first place.
"I actually was talking about this with the D-line," defensive end Nick Bosa shared after the game. "As a D-line, I don't give too much respect to running backs, usually, just because of how well we've played the run since we've been here. But I think my mind has changed on that a little bit.
"There's definitely some guys in the league that you have to really prepare for, and he's most definitely one of them."
Bosa is the reigning NFL Defensive Player of the Year. The talented pass rusher thinks so highly of his offensive teammate that he wouldn't be surprised to hear McCaffrey's name announced at NFL Honors after this season.
"Whenever he's out there, it changes everything, with his ability to catch the ball and obviously run," Bosa said. "I told him after today, he was sitting in front of me at the NFL Honors (in February), and hopefully, I'm sitting in front of him and congratulating him."