Niners Nation
The San Francisco 49ers needed to win their final three games to clinch the No. 1 seed in the NFC playoffs. Things got off to a promising start, winning the first of three in dominating fashion on Monday night with a 48-27 victory in Indianapolis over the Colts.
While the defense left some things to be desired, they held on enough against Philip Rivers and the Colts’ offense, limiting Jonathan Taylor to just 46 rushing yards, while the offense did its thing, going a second game in a row without a punt.
With the offense as dominant as it was, it makes sense that all three stars come from that side of the ball. These are the three stars from the win on Monday night:
Third star: RB Christian McCaffrey
It’s been at most an MVP-caliber season and at least an Offensive Player of the Year-caliber season for McCaffrey, but he’s definitely been lacking in the run game with a career-low 3.6 yards per attempt entering Week 16. But on Monday night, he gave the 49ers offense exactly what they’ve been looking for with a massive game on the ground.
In his first game with more than 100 rushing yards since the start of November, McCaffrey finished Monday with 117 rushing yards on 21 attempts, good for 5.5 yards per attempt, his second-highest average on the season. Not only was the average rush where we’ve come to expect it from McCaffrey, but he also collected his longest rush of the season, a 24-yard run on a third-and-1, marking just his second run of 20 or more yards this season.
Oh, and by the way, McCaffrey made an impact in the passing game, per usual, as well. His six receptions were his most in a game since the 49ers last appeared on a Monday night, totalling just 29 yards, which was his fewest since Week 8. But the 49ers will take the low yardage when a third of his receptions result in scores. With Brock Purdy throwing for five touchdowns – more on him in a second – McCaffrey was his favorite target in the end zone, with the running back recording his first multi-receiving touchdown game of the season.
The 49ers offense scored 41 of the team’s 48 points on Monday night, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that McCaffrey had a big game. But the dominance coming on the ground as opposed to the receiving game is a promising sight for a team pushing for the NFC’s top spot.
Second star: TE George Kittle
Purdy had the biggest day of any 49er, but any time he needed a big play on Monday night, he would go to big No. 85. And each time, Kittle would reward Purdy for that decision.
Kittle finished Monday with a season-high 115 receiving yards – his first 100-yard game of the season – on a team-high seven receptions with a touchdown. And that was on a short night for the tight end, with...
