The 49ers have dealt with a wave of injuries to begin the 2024 NFL season, but Christian McCaffrey's absence has hurt San Francisco in a very specific area of the field.
Red-zone efficiency has been an issue for the 49ers all season, something that can directly be traced back to McCaffrey being sidelined since training camp.
NBC Sports Bay Area analyst Donte Whitner detailed McCaffrey's crucial impact with a shrunken field during a "Hitners Hot Take" segment on "49ers Postgame Live" following San Francisco's 24-23 loss to the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday.
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"Through five weeks of the season, the 49ers sit at 2-3. Though they've had the emergence of Jordan Mason, who's leading the NFL in rushing right now? It's becoming more and more apparent to me that no Christian McCaffrey, no red-zone touchdowns," Whitner said. "The reigning offensive player of the year Christian McCaffrey coming off 21 touchdown season in 2023, scored 18 red-zone touchdowns for the 49ers.
"And it's becoming more and more apparent that Christian McCaffrey's short-area quickness, his versatility, his ability to run in between the tackles and get into the end zone. And catch the football out of the backfield, is a huge hole for the 49ers' offense.
"Kyle Shanahan has to figure out a creative way to put his players in position to score touchdowns in the red zone. Or he'll continue to squander games that they should win"
After finishing the 2023 NFL season as the league's No. 1 red-zone offense by scoring touchdowns on 67.2 percent of possessions after crossing their opponents' 20-yard line, the 49ers have regressed all the way to 30th in 2024, reaching the end zone in just 40.9 percent of those situations this season.
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McCaffrey remains sidelined while dealing with Achilles tendinitis, raising the sense of urgency as San Francisco seeks a solution for its season-long red-zone woes.
Coach Kyle Shanahan is among the NFL's brightest offensive minds, but it's going to take something special to vault the 49ers back into the elite tier of red-zone offenses without the help of McCaffrey.
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