By Matt Barrows, Vic Tafur, Josh Kendall, Alex Valdes
Christian McCaffrey finally looked like CMC on Sunday night. The San Francisco 49ers running back had his best rushing performance since 2023, scoring two touchdowns and gaining 129 yards to lead a 20-10 victory over the Atlanta Falcons.
The 49ers’ defense, a week after losing All-Pro linebacker Fred Warner to a season-ending injury, kept Falcons running back Bijan Robinson and quarterback Michael Penix Jr. in check.
49ers lean on CMC
With their defense missing its two best players, the 49ers leaned on their dormant running game, and McCaffrey and Co. responded.
McCaffrey finished with 129 yards and two touchdowns on 24 carries and also had seven catches for 72 yards. He is the third running back in the past 10 seasons (2016-25) with at least 100 scrimmage yards in each of his team’s first seven games, joining Kareem Hunt (2017 with Kansas City) and David Johnson (2016 with Arizona).
The 49ers ran the ball well despite center Jake Brendel being knocked out of the game. Actually … Brendel and the two guards have struggled for the 49ers, and the ground game might have been working better thanks to the return of tight end George Kittle and improved health of receiver Jauan Jennings — two excellent blockers at their positions. — Vic Tafur, 49ers senior writer
Kittle quiet in return
Sunday night was Kittle’s big return after he missed five games with a hamstring tear, but the tight end had fewer catches than the team’s rookie guard, Connor Colby.
Colby’s one catch was a big one. Mac Jones was hit as he threw the ball, and Colby batted around the deflected pass before securing it and rumbling five yards back to a yard shy of the line of scrimmage. That set up Eddy Piñeiro’s 55-yard field goal with 38 seconds left in the half that put the 49ers up 10-3. — Tafur
Bethune steps up for Warner
New middle linebacker Tatum Bethune did his best Fred Warner impression Sunday, leading the 49ers with 10 tackles, the second straight game he’s hit double digits and led the team in that category. Bethune had to leave the game after getting in on a tackle of Robinson following a seven-yard screen play in the first quarter.
Curtis Robinson, now the backup middle linebacker, filled in for most of the Falcons’ 19-play drive, but Bethune returned for the last few snaps. Six days after Robinson ran for 170 yards against the Buffalo Bills, the 49ers held him to 40 and a 2.9 yards-per-carry average. Robinson was more effective as a pass catcher, grabbing six passes for 52 yards, including a 10-yard touchdown. — Matt Barrows, 49ers writer
‘Dinero’ once again
The 49ers got their usual strong performance from kicker Piñeiro, who hit a 55-yard field goal at the end of the second quarter and a 43-yarder on the opening drive of the third quarter. Piñeiro has yet to miss a field goal in 17 attempts since joining the team in Week 2, and he’s connected on five from beyond 50 yards.
The problem has been kickoffs. Pineiro followed his third-quarter field goal with a line-drive kickoff the Falcons returned 45 yards to the 49ers’ 48-yard line. The play gave Atlanta momentum, and the Falcons converted it into a 10-yard catch-and-run touchdown to Robinson to close San Francisco’s lead to 13-10. — Barrows
49ers shut down Robinson
It’s become noteworthy when Bijan Robinson is not spectacular, which is pretty good evidence he has reached star status. Robinson was good Sunday night, but he was not the constant highlight reel he had been in the first six weeks.
The Falcons’ third-year running back finished with 40 rushing yards and 52 receiving yards, failing to break the 100-yard scrimmage yards mark for the first time this season. He did have a 10-yard receiving touchdown, giving him seven receiving touchdowns for his career, the most by an Atlanta running back in his first three seasons. — Josh Kendall, Falcons writer
Deablo injury hurts Atlanta
No one who is playing the 49ers this season can complain about injuries, but losing middle linebacker Divine Deablo to a forearm injury in the first half did not help Atlanta’s cause. In addition to being a sure tackler in the run game, Deablo takes away a lot of passing windows in the middle of the field due to his length.
His replacement, second-year player JD Bertrand, had only played one defensive snap coming into the game, and San Francisco’s run game had lots of success running between the tackles all night. The ultimate undoing of the Atlanta defense was that the 49ers were 9-of-15 on third down. — Kendall
Penix Jr. struggles
Falcons wide receiver Darnell Mooney returned from a hamstring injury and had three catches for 68 yards, but it was tight end Kyle Pitts who was the most consistent part of the passing game. Pitts tied his season-high with seven catches and had 62 yards.
Still, though, Atlanta’s passing game was not as crisp as it has been the last two weeks, and quarterback Michael Penix Jr. had his third-worst game of the season as measured by EPA per dropback. — Kendall
Source link
