Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images
Christian McCaffrey showed why he’s the rare RB who can win NFL MVP
In the National Football League, the MVP award has become something of a quarterback award. A QB has won the award in 10 straight seasons, and 14 of the last 15 MVP awards have been secured by a quarterback. The last non-QB to bring home MVP honors? Adrian Peterson back in 2012.
Is this the year Christian McCaffrey breaks that streak?
If Sunday is any indication, it very well might be. McCaffrey was all over the field for the San Francisco offense, scoring three touchdowns in the first half alone. By the time the game was over, McCaffrey had accounted for 177 yards and four touchdowns in San Francisco’s 35-16 win over the Arizona Cardinals.
McCaffrey got on the board with a one-yard touchdown plunge to cap off the 49ers’ opening drive of the game:
All told, McCaffrey was involved on six of the eight plays on the opening drive, running four times for 14 yards and catching a pair of passes for 22 yards, meaning that he was responsible for 36 of the 62 yards on the drive.
The score also gave him a touchdown in 13 straight games, breaking a franchise mark set by Jerry Rice.
And he was just getting started.
Because on San Francisco’s next possession, McCaffrey again found the end zone, capping off a nine-play drive with this catch-and-run on a swing pass for an 18-yard touchdown:
McCaffrey looks like another former member of the 49ers, Renaldo Nehemiah, with the hurdle at the end of this play.
Look it up, kids.
Similar to the opening drive, McCaffrey was involved in six of the nine plays, catching one pass for 12 yards, and running the ball five times for 37 yards. As the pass from Brock Purdy on the touchdown was thrown backward, it goes into the books as a touchdown run.
The hurdle at the end of the run brought out a reaction from a rather famous football fan:
CMC you’re ABSOLUTELY RIDICULOUS!!!! My GOODNESS
— LeBron James (@KingJames) October 1, 2023
These two opening drives highlight just how much he means to this offense. They come over the course of the scripted plays, sketched out by Kyle Shanahan and the offensive staff prior to the contest as the plays they want to use to open the game.
With two rushing touchdowns under his belt in the first half, it was time to get a receiving touchdown. That is exactly what McCaffrey did on this play, operating out of the backfield, putting a move on linebacker Dennis Gardeck, and then angling inside to give Purdy an easy pitch-and-catch for the touchdown:
McCaffrey with a “two-way go” against a linebacker is perhaps one of the most terrifying things in all of football.
All told, his stats over the first half were terrifying as well if you are a Cardinals fan:
Of course, there were still 30 minutes of football remaining. After the Cardinals forced a San Francisco punt to pen the second half and tacked on a touchdown to make the score 21-16 in favor of the 49ers, San Francisco had a response.
And McCaffrey had his fourth touchdown of the game:
When the final whistle blew, here were McCaffrey’s stats on the day:
20 carries for 106 yards and 3 touchdowns
7 catches for 71 yards and a touchdown
27 touches for 177 yards and 4 touchdowns
McCaffrey accounted for 45 percent of San Francisco’s total offensive yards on the day, and four of their five touchdowns. The other was scored by Purdy on a short quarterback sneak in the fourth quarter to put the game away.
On the season? McCaffery now has half of the team’s touchdowns (7 of their 14 touchdowns have come from him) and 37 percent of their yards from scrimmage (600 of their 1,619 yards from scrimmage) so far this season.
Are those MVP kinds of numbers? The social media team at the NFL at least gave a nod in that direction, with this post late Sunday afternoon:
After today, McCaffrey might have a strong case as the front runner for MVP, especially when considered in tandem with the loss from Tua Tagovailoa and the Miami Dolphins to the Buffalo Bills.
Could that continue? Could McCaffrey break this current QB streak?
Consider this: The 49ers get the 3-1 Dallas Cowboys — and their stout defense — next week. If he puts up numbers like this against Dan Quinn and company, he might be well on his way towards breaking that streak.
