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Christian McCaffrey had the San Francisco 49ers poised for an early lead in the Super Bowl on Sunday before the first of many miscues did his team in.
The Niners running back fumbled during a 5-play, 48-yard opening drive against the Kansas City Chiefs well before his team fell 25-22 in overtime. He told reporters afterward “put that on me.”
“First thing I think is I can’t put the ball on the ground on the first drive. It’s going to sting,” McCaffrey said initially.
San Francisco recovered to build a 10-0 lead, which could have easily been 13-0 since the 49ers were in field goal range on that opening drive. McCaffrey bounced back as he rushed for 80 yards on 22 carries and caught eight passes for 80 yards and a touchdown.
In the end, he couldn’t do enough in the second half and overtime against a stingy Chiefs defense.
“Yeah, it hurts. It hurts deep,” McCaffrey said. “It’s something that you dream about as a kid. You’ve worked so hard for all year and come up short.”
“I think you just have to go through all the emotions as they come, but each day just chip away getting back to normal. I don’t know how long it’s going to take. It’s still fresh and it still sucks.”
Kyle Shanahan Under Fire for Not Utilizing Christian McCaffrey More
McCaffrey only touched the ball three times for the third quarter after only 14 times before halftime, something Sean Keeler of the Denver Post lamented. It helped quarterback Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs “get up off the mat” and take a 13-10 lead in the quarter, Keeler pointed out.
Keeler, who pinned that on 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan, wrote that Shanahan “responded to a touchdown cushion and a Mahomes interception coming out of halftime with six straight pass plays … which amassed negative-2 net yards. For a painful, fleeting moment, Kyle forgot he had the best tailback in the free world. He let Mahomes hang around too long.”
Shanahan addressed the issue to the media afterward where he defended his decision.
“I didn’t get away from the run game. You go three and out and you don’t get drives. So, we didn’t get away from it, we just didn’t stay on the field,” Shanahan said.
Niners quarterback Brock Purdy went ice cold during that stretch before he put his team back ahead in the fourth quarter on a 10-year touchdown pass to wide receiver Jauan Jennings. Purdy couldn’t connect with Jennings again in overtime, and their team fell short.
In the end, the 49ers had many other miscues that added up. That included a Ray-Ray McCloud III failed fumble recovery on a punt return and a blocked extra point.
“If you look at the self-inflicted wounds we had,” McCaffrey said. “We just beat ourselves.”
Niners Fullback Kyle Juszczyk Feels for Christian McCaffrey
San Francisco backfield teammate and fullback Kyle Juszczyk said McCaffrey’s performance didn’t take away from how great of a player he is.
“It’s hard. It’s really hard. I feel for him,” Juszczyk told reporters afterward. “I’ve said since two years ago: Nobody’s harder on Christian than himself. And I hate to see that because he’s absolutely the reason we’re here. Did a lot of really great things in that game. He’s the best football player I’ve ever seen.”
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