The San Francisco 49ers continue to look like arguably the best team in the NFL early this season. On Thursday, they kicked off Week 3 across the league by shutting down the New York Giants, 30-12.
The Giants were without star running back Saquon Barkley, and the Niners did exactly what they should’ve done to a team that was without its top offensive weapon. They held New York scoreless after halftime, and although Giants quarterback Daniel Jones completed 22 of 32 passes, he threw no touchdown passes, and as a team, the Giants were just 3-of-12 in third-down situations.
Offensively, San Francisco may not be playing up to its potential, but it still got a big game from wide receiver Deebo Samuel. With fellow stud wideout Brandon Aiyuk out due to a shoulder injury, Samuel collected 129 yards on just six catches plus one touchdown.
Running back Christian McCaffrey continued to dominate with 85 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown. In doing so, he tied Jerry Rice, the greatest wideout of all-time, for the most consecutive games with at least one touchdown in 49ers’ history with 12.
Jerry Rice established the record during his historic 1987 campaign in which he tallied 1,078 receiving yards and 22 receiving touchdowns in just 12 games.
The Niners acquired McCaffrey from the Carolina Panthers last October. At the time, they were struggling, especially on offense, but he gave them a dual-threat running back who was seemingly tailor-made for head coach Kyle Shanahan’s offensive scheme.
Christian McCaffrey is not only adept at catching passes, either out of the backfield or by lining up as a wide receiver, but he is also a big threat to add yards after the catch or after contact. In fact, a good number of his yards on Thursday landed in either category.
Next up for the 49ers will be the hapless Arizona Cardinals next Sunday before a Week 5 showdown in Santa Clara against the rival Dallas Cowboys.
