Niners Nation
The San Francisco 49ers fought their way to another victory, beating the New York Giants 34-24 on the road to improve to 6-3 and remain firmly in the NFC West race.
San Francisco came in with depth concerns along the defensive line and without Brock Purdy once again. And things looked on edge early, as the Giants had an early 10-play, 64-yard touchdown drive. That marked the second straight game the 49ers defense gave up an opening drive touchdown after not having one for the entire season before that.
But, the 49ers recovered after that with a strong start from Mac Jones, taking a 17-7 halftime lead before cruising in the second half en route to a blowout victory.
Here are three takeaways from the 49ers’ 34-24 win over the Giants in Week 9.
CMC explosion
Christian McCaffrey eclipsed 100 yards rushing for the second time this season, while totaling over 170 yards and two touchdowns on the day.
Heading into the game, riding McCaffrey was my top key for the game, and the 49ers did exactly that en route to the win.
While the efficiency wasn’t high (3.8 yards per carry), the 49ers had enough success on the ground to get points and control the pace of the game. It was a classic Kyle Shanahan game as San Francisco had nearly 40 runs (39) and ran for 159 yards on one of the worst run defenses in the league.
Brian Robinson even chipped in with 53 yards on five carries, including an 18-yard touchdown run, so the 49ers backs averaged 4.7 yards on 33 carries as a whole.
But, McCaffrey had his usual impact in the receiving game as well, leading the team with five catches for 67 yards and a score through the air. A majority of that came after the catch as well.
The game script called for one of these games, and McCaffrey executed.
Efficiency from Mac
Mac Jones had a tough outing last weekend working against a top-tier defensive front, throwing for 193 yards, two touchdowns, and an interception while completing only 59.4 percent of his passes against the Houston Texans.
Well, against another good defensive line on Sunday, Jones was extremely efficient, throwing for 235 yards and two touchdowns on 19/24 passing.
Jones was uber-efficient in the first half, completing all 14 of his pass attempts as the 49ers got out to a 17-7 lead. He did have a strip-sack, which was more on Colton McKivitz, but the mistake was mitigated by a Graham Gano missed field goal.
Overall, he got the ball out well and hit his receivers, who made some big plays, while limiting mistakes. As a result, the 49ers had 34 points and went 4/5 in the red zone. That’s exactly what the team needed at quarterback on Sunday.
Turf monster hits again
The 49ers’ win was covered by some poor news, as head coach Kyle Shanahan revealed the fear is that Mykel Williams tore his ACL on Sunday.
The blows...
