The San Francisco 49ers didn’t play their best game last week, but a 10-point fourth quarter lifted them to victory over the Green Bay Packers. Christian McCaffrey accounted for two of the 49ers’ three touchdowns – a 39-yard run in the third quarter and a six-yard rushing touchdown to take the lead in the final minutes.
NFL Insider Brian Baldinger of the Audacy original podcast “In The Huddle” thinks the 49ers should give McCaffrey a heavy workload in the NFC Championship Game against the Detroit Lions.
“Detroit does a lot of stuff defensively. They’ll play four safeties at one time depending on what you’re going to do,” Baldinger said (20:35 in player above). “I don’t think you can do that against Christian McCaffrey.”
McCaffrey ran for 98 yards on 17 carries last week. He also had seven catches (on 12 targets) for 30 yards. The 49ers have leaned on him all season long and it should be no different in the NFC Championship Game.
“Why would you put McCaffrey on any kind of a pitch count? Why wouldn’t you put the ball in his hands 25 times?” Baldinger continued. “He had a week of rest. Maybe the calf is still there or a little muscle injuries with him getting all those massages during the game last week, but the 31-yard touchdown run, the touchdown run to win the game, wouldn’t you just pound McCaffrey and just see what’s Detroit made of and play-action pass off it?”
The dynamic running back has been dealing with a minor calf injury over the past month or so but didn’t look any worse for wear against Green Bay. The 49ers also have other offensive weapons that can step up if need be.
“Look, you got the touchdown pass to Kittle last week off a broken play,” Baldinger said. “Take your chances on those kind of things but put the ball in McCaffrey’s hands and let him be the MVP of the game.”
McCaffrey amassed a career-high 1,459 yards on the ground on 272 carries (5.4 yards per attempt) this season. However, the Lions had the second-best rushing defense in the regular season at 88.8 yards per game. It should be a great matchup on Sunday at Levi’s Stadium.