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Christian McCaffrey breaks Jerry Rice's 49ers record while scoring 4 touchdowns in win over Cardinals

jason owens
Staff writer
·3 min read
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Eighteen games into his career in San Francisco, Christian McCaffrey is already among the 49ers' greats.

The All-Pro running back opened up Sunday's game against the Arizona Cardinals with a 1-yard touchdown run to give San Francisco an early 7-0 lead. The score set a 49ers record and was the first of four for McCaffrey in a 35-16 win over the Arizona Cardinals.

McCaffrey passes Jerry Rice for TD-streak record

The score marked the 13th straight game, including the playoffs, that McCaffrey's scored a touchdown in a 49ers uniform. That breaks an all-time franchise record that was held by none other than Jerry Rice, the Hall of Fame receiver whose best scoring stretch consisted of 12 straight games, a mark that had stood since 1987. That's pretty good company.

McCaffrey celebrated the achievement by tacking on another score on San Francisco's next possession. On first-and-10 from Arizona's 18-yard line, quarterback Brock Purdy looked to McCaffrey on a lateral swing pass. McCaffrey did the work from there, eluding Cardinals defenders while following his blockers to the end zone to secure a 14-0 49ers edge.

And he wasn't done. McCaffrey added a third touchdown on San Francisco's third possession, this one on a pass from Purdy from the 6-yard line.

That score extended San Francisco's lead to 21-3. When the Cardinals closed the gap to 21-16, San Francisco looked once again to McCaffrey. He scored his fourth touchdown of the day on a 2-yard run that capped an eight-play, 75-yard drive.

He wouldn't get No. 5 despite having a chance. But with the 49ers facing second-and-goal at the 1-yard line late, they ran a quarterback sneak. Purdy punched it in for the final score of the game.

McCaffrey finished the day with 20 carries for 106 yards and three scores on the ground. He added seven catches for 71 yards and another touchdown.

To date, that's 17 touchdowns in his past 13 games and 20 touchdowns in 18 games since McCaffrey joined the 49ers via trade from the Carolina Panthers last season. He's the anchor of one of the NFL's best offenses on a team that improved to 4-0 with Sunday's win.

One of the biggest trades in recent NFL memory is paying serious dividends in San Francisco.