Christian McCaffrey leads 49ers past former Panthers team on Monday Night

Christian McCaffrey faced his former team, the Carolina Panthers, for the first time since joining the San Francisco 49ers in 2022.

The All-Pro running back helped San Francisco to a 20-9 win on “Monday Night Football” by reaching the end zone and leading both teams in yards from scrimmage.

The 49ers (8-4) are now firmly in the NFC playoff picture, while the Panthers (6-6) missed a chance to take sole possession of the NFC South lead.

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While McCaffrey shined on the primetime stage, it was a tough night for both quarterbacks.

Brock Purdy, who threw three touchdowns in his return the previous week, struggled with turnovers and threw three interceptions on consecutive possessions in the first half.

San Francisco opened strong with a 15-play, 75-yard touchdown drive, capped by Purdy’s short pass to Jauan Jennings, who scrambled through three Panthers defenders score. But after a quick three-and-out by the Panthers, Purdy’s first pass on the next series was intercepted by Jaycee Horn, giving Carolina the ball at the San Francisco 16-yard line.

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But it wasn’t just about Purdy’s turnovers that night – Young had some problems too.

On first-and-goal in the 1st minute, Young appeared to have room to run toward the pylon, but he instead attempted a pass to tight end Mitchell Evans. Ji’Ayir Brown was right there to grab the interception in the end zone and save Purdy for his earlier mistake.

Unfortunately for San Francisco, Purdy was picked off by Mike Jackson in the opposite end zone while trying to find Ricky Pearsall for a touchdown. The route was read perfectly by the experienced cornerback. On the replay, tight end George Kittle appeared to be wide open and could have scored with a short pass, but Purdy looked for the big play on the throw.

Then things really went bad for Purdy after Horn secured his second interception of the game – a clever move when he was moving freely in the middle of the field and Purdy simply didn’t see him on a pass intended for Pearsall. The Panthers finally scored points after a field goal cut the deficit to 7-3.

It was only 10-3 at halftime, but the 49ers finally got McCaffrey into the end zone in the third quarter against his former team. His 12-yard touchdown run capped a 13-play, 80-yard drive by San Francisco in which the star back received key blocks from Kittle and fullback Kyle Juszczyk to reach the end zone.

McCaffrey finished the game with 89 rushing yards and seven catches for 53 yards.

The Panthers weren’t completely out of the game despite trailing 17-3, thanks to rookie receiver Tetairoa McMillan’s 29-yard shot from Young with 49 seconds left in the third quarter to make the score 17-9 after a failed two-point conversion.

The 49ers added some distance with another field goal, but the Panthers still had plenty of time in the fourth quarter to make things interesting. Unfortunately, Brown skipped a route up the middle intended for McMillan, and Young threw it right to him.

The interception effectively iced the game when Ryan Fitzgerald missed a 57-yard field goal with 2:47 left in the fourth quarter as the Panthers desperately tried to score points.

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Looking at the box score, Kittle led the game with 78 yards on six catches, while Jennings finished with 41 yards on five grabs.

For the Panthers, Rico Dowdle, Chuba Hubbard and Young combined for just 69 rushing yards, although Dowdle had four catches for 36 yards. Hubbard added four catches for 27 yards.

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