Projecting Christian McCaffrey's Wild Card Performance

Christian McCaffrey has been on fire as of late, but how will he perform in the wild card round?

Christian McCaffrey has put together a phenomenal season. He's arguably been the MVP on offense for the San Francisco 49ers, since they acquired him via a trade with the Carolina Panthers. 

Even despite his strong season in the Bay, McCaffrey was  snubbed from the pro-bowl, and I believe he should've been selected without a doubt. That might have upset Christian McCaffrey, and added extra motivation. When asked by 49ers media about his Pro-Bowl snub he stated "I've got to go harder." 

His fellow teammate George Kittle agrees, Kittle expressed "I hope stays pissed off. Because he's been pissed off the last four weeks and all he's done is dominate." That's not an exaggeration either. In the last four weeks of the season McCaffrey has rushed for 320 yards 3 touchdowns and 148 receiving yards and a touchdown for a total of 468 yards in the last 4 weeks. 

Christian McCaffrey has only one playoff experience with the Carolina Panthers, and he showed up and showed out in the passing game. He only had 6 rushing attempts for 16 yards but he had 6 receptions for 101 yards and a touchdown. Now on the big stage with the 49ers how he will perform is what many are wondering. 

In his game this season against the Seattle Seahawks he rushed for 108 yards and a touchdown while adding 30 yards through the air. The Seahawks may look to completely stop the run and force Rookie Quarterback Brock Purdy to beat them, and that is where McCaffrey will feast. If Seattle decides to take away the run completely, which they won't be able to, then expect to see a lot of targets to McCaffrey against Linebackers Tanner Muse, Cody Barton with Jordyn Brooks on the injured reserve. Kyle Shanahan will look at that matchup and choose McCaffrey 100 times out of 100. 

I fully expect this game to be the McCaffrey and Elijah Mitchell game with the rain and wind playing a factor into the outcome. McCaffrey will likely rush for 70+ yards and have 50+ receiving yards. I personally predict McCaffrey will have over 120 total yards and at least 1 touchdown. That is a great game for a player you traded for at the midpoint of the season. Coming in and lifting your team throughout the season and playoffs. McCaffrey has the potential to be the player of the game, especially with the linebackers of Seattle being put in a blender by Kyle Shanahan.

The 49ers' play caller will be dialing up a nice big screen to McCaffrey and a few routes against the linebackers that are big for the 49ers. I can also see Shanahan  going deep into his playbook and having a few run plays for McCaffrey that go for 10+ yards, with a long being 25 or more. I also think the 49ers will win this game behind McCaffrey who like George Kittle has said, has been playing "pissed off".