SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — For all the stars the San Francisco 49ers might have been missing, they still had Christian McCaffrey.
That proved to be the difference against the Atlanta Falcons.
McCaffrey ran for 129 yards and two touchdowns and had his 200-yard game from scrimmage in six years as the short-handed 49ers finally delivered a strong ground game to beat Atlanta 20-10 on Sunday night.
“That should be our plan every time,” left tackle Trent Williams said about feeding McCaffrey. “He’s one of the better players on our team, so putting the ball in his hands as much as possible works out good for us.”
The usually run-focused 49ers (5-2) had struggled to generate much on the ground all season before getting back to their old style against the Falcons (3-3) with help from the return of tight end George Kittle.
“It’s a different ballgame when he’s in there,” McCaffrey said. “Even when he doesn’t have a big statistical game, the attention that he draws opens so much up.”
McCaffrey had his first 100-yard rushing game since his Offensive Player of the Year campaign in 2023 and his 201 yards from scrimmage were his most since playing with Carolina in 2019.
“He’s the most consistent player I’ve been around,” coach Kyle Shanahan said. “He just allows you to stay on track. He gets every yard in the run game and more. What he does in the pass game, it’s rare that you throw the ball to him and not get a completion.”
The Niners won for the fourth time in five starts this season with backup quarterback Mac Jones playing in place of Brock Purdy.
San Francisco’s defense came up big as well despite losing All-Pro linebacker Fred Warner to an ankle injury last week and playing without star edge rusher Nick Bosa.
The 49ers delivered two key plays in the fourth quarter to preserve the lead. The Falcons were driving down 13-10 and had a third-and-1 at the San Francisco 35. But the Niners stopped Bijan Robinson for no gain and then Chase Lucas broke up a pass from Michael Penix Jr. to Drake London on fourth down to end the threat.
“Anytime you get a chance to throw it to one of your best players, you feel pretty good about it,” coach Raheem Morris said. “They made a great play.”
San Francisco then moved the ball downfield on the ground before Jones hit McCaffrey on a 17-yard pass on third and 14 to get down to the 4 against a defense that had only 10 men on the field.
“It was absolutely embarrassing,” Morris said. “It was my fault. I’ll get it fixed.”
McCaffrey then scored on the next play with help rookie offensive lineman Connor Colby, who pulled him into the end zone in a move that is technically a penalty but almost never called.
“I wouldn’t say carried,” Colby said. “His legs were still moving. I was just helping him along.”
Jones threw for only 152 yards with an interception after averaging a league-high 313 yards through the air in his first four starts.
Penix finished 21 for 38 for 241 yards with a 10-yard touchdown pass to Robinson, but the Falcons offense managed just two scores on nine drives.
The running game helped San Francisco take a 7-3 lead on a 1-yard run by McCaffrey and the pass rush helped make it 10-3 at the half.
Bryce Huff’s strip sack of Penix set up a 55-yard field goal by Eddy Pineiro. San Francisco then forced Penix into an intentional grounding penalty when Atlanta was in field goal range, leading to a 10-second run off that ended the half.
Falcons: LB Divine Deablo (forearm) left the game in the first half and didn’t return.
49ers: C Jake Brendel (hamstring) and CB Renardo Green (toe) left in the first half and didn’t return.
Falcons: Host Miami on Sunday.
49ers: At Houston on Sunday.
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