How Christian McCaffrey 49ers Made NFL History 8 Ways vs. Cardinals

Christian McCaffrey’s rise in the NFL MVP conversation may be matched only by his continued rise in the record books for the league and the 49ers.

The 49ers running back posted another stunning, multi-faceted performance Sunday in a 45-29 win at Arizona, shredding the Cardinals’ defense for 187 yards from scrimmage (115 rushing, 72 receiving) and three touchdowns (two receiving, one rushing). The third TD was his 80th in his 89th career game, making McCaffrey the fifth consecutive player in NFL history to score that number in his first 90 career games.

The other four: Pro Football Hall of Famers LaDainian Tomlinson (104 games) and Emmitt Smith (97), 2005 NFL MVP Shaun Alexander (91), and 2012 NFL MVP Adrian Peterson (83). That’s a brilliant company.

But McCaffrey keeps bright company each week as he climbs the charts.

For example, Sunday’s win marked the 15th time McCaffrey has had one or more rushing TDs and one or more receiving TDs in the same game, tying him with Hall of Famer Marshall Faulk for the most in NFL history. So, it seems like it’s only a matter of time before McCaffrey stands alone at the top of that list. His six performances with the 49ers are already a franchise record, ahead of Roger Craig and Jerry Rice’s five, and he played in just 25 games with San Francisco. Rice played 238 and Craig played 121.

Holding on to his accomplishments with the 49ers, McCaffrey had seven straight games of 100 or more yards from scrimmage, tying Craig for the most games in a single season in team history. Considering that McCaffrey posted a nine-game winning streak in 2019 and eight in 2018 – Both with the Carolina Panthers – It would not be surprising to see this record low.

McCaffrey also has 11 100-plus yard games from scrimmage this season, once again tying Craig atop the 49ers leaders list.

McCaffrey’s total passing yards are impressive in NFL annals.

His 1,292 rushing yards and 509 receiving yards this season make him just the fourth player in NFL history with at least 1,000 receiving yards and 500 receiving yards in four or more career seasons. Faulk (five seasons), Thurman Thomas (four) and Tiki Barber (four) are the others. McCaffrey and Faulk (41 games) are now the only NFL players to post 30 career games with at least 50 rushing yards and 50 rushing yards.

Last but not least, McCaffrey, who has 6,018 receiving yards and 4,265 receiving yards since entering the NFL in 2017, is the third player ever to have at least 6,000 receiving yards and 4,000 receiving yards in his first seven seasons. Volk and Craig did it too.

It’s safe to say that last year’s McCaffrey trade was a success for the 49ers, who are the NFC West champions and Super Bowl favorites in San Francisco’s first full season. The only question seems to be how many rings and records McCaffrey will finish his tenure with the 49ers.

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