With four touchdowns against the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday, Christian McCaffrey made it clear he's something special in the 49ers' 35-16 win at Levi's Stadium.
The star running back rushed his way into the NFL MVP conversation with 177 all-purpose yards -- 106 rushing, 71 receiving -- and one epic hurdle in Week 4, making for a dominant performance that was historic in more ways than one.
To put McCaffrey's record-breaking day into perspective, here are 13 stats (courtesy of the 49ers) showing all the different ways he etched his name into football history and why it was one of the best performances of his NFL career.
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- McCaffrey’s 106 yards on the ground mark his 19th career game (playoffs included) with 100 or more rushing yards.
- McCaffrey’s four TDs mark a career-high and the most TDs recorded in a single game by a 49ers player since RB Tevin Coleman in 2019 [four TDs vs. the Carolina Panthers (10/27/19)].
- McCaffrey joined Coleman as one of two players in franchise history to score three rushing TDs and one receiving TD in the same game.
- McCaffrey's three TDs in the game's first half mark the first time in his career that he has scored three or more TDs in one half.
- This also was McCaffrey’s 12th career game with at least one rushing and one receiving TD, which is tied for the second-most such games all time (Marshall Faulk is No. 1 with 15 games).
- With 177 yards from scrimmage and four TDs, McCaffrey is the first player in 49ers franchise history to tally 100 or more yards from scrimmage and one TD in each game in Weeks 1-4, and is the first NFL player to accomplish the feat since former Dallas Cowboys RB DeMarco Murray in 2014.
- McCaffrey also is the eighth NFL RB to accomplish the feat since at least 1970 (RB DeMarco Murray, Cowboys - 2014; RB Jamaal Charles, Kansas City Chiefs - 2013; RB Ricky Williams, Miami Dolphins - 2002; RB Emmitt Smith, Cowboys - 1995; RB Billy Sims, Detroit Lions - 1981; RB O.J. Simpson, Buffalo Bills - 1975; RB Ron Johnson, New York Giants - 1970).
- McCaffrey also became one of four NFL players in the Super Bowl Era to post 70 or more rushing yards, three or more rushing TDs, 70 or more receiving yards and one or more receiving TDs in the same game.
- McCaffrey’s three rushing TDs give him six on the season and 44 in his career. His four TDs against the Cardinals marked his 10th consecutive regular-season game with one or more TDs, which is the longest streak of his career and the second-most consecutive regular-season games with one or more TDs by a 49ers player since wide receiver Jerry Rice [13 games (Week 16, 1986 – Week 16, 1987)].
- Including the postseason, McCaffrey has scored one or more TDs in 13 consecutive games, which is the longest active streak of any NFL player and the longest streak by a member of the 49ers in franchise history.
- McCaffrey’s 13 consecutive games with a TD also ties former NFL RBs Arian Foster and Emmitt Smith for the second-most consecutive games with one or more TDs in the NFL since at least 1990.
- With a 65-yard rushing TD Week 1 at the Pittsburgh Steelers, a 14-yard rushing TD Week 2 at the Los Angeles Rams, a 4-yard rushing TD Week 3 vs. the New York Giants and 1-yard, 18-yard and 2-yard rushing TDs vs. Arizona, McCaffrey became the first 49ers RB to score one or more rushing TDs in Weeks 1-4 in franchise history.
- McCaffrey also became the first NFL RB to score one or more rushing TDs in Weeks 1-4 since then-Minnesota Vikings RB Dalvin Cook did so in 2020.
They don't call him Run CMC for nothing.
Those who had their doubts about the 49ers' trade for McCaffrey last season certainly have been quiet as the All-Pro runs through the league.
But while all of these accomplishments are nice, there's only one thing on McCaffrey and the rest of San Francisco's mind: A Super Bowl victory.
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