49ers Christian McCaffrey jokes about TD streak ending at 17: ‘Man, I suck’

Nov 14, 2023, 8:48 AM | Updated: 10:38 am

Christian McCaffrey #23 of the San Francisco 49ers runs with the ball during the second quarter aga...

Megan Briggs/Getty Images

San Francisco 49ers Beat Writer

Everything went right for the San Francisco 49ers Week 10 against the Jacksonville Jaguars; except that Christian McCaffrey didn’t find the endzone for the 18th straight week.

The 49ers versatile running back saw his streak of consecutive games with a touchdown come to an end in Week 10. McCaffrey had scored a rushing or receiving TD for the past 17 weeks, including the playoffs, starting in Week 13 of the 2022 season. If he had scored against the Jacksonville Jaguars, McCaffrey would have broken Lenny Moore’s all-time record with 18 straight games.

But while the rest of the team put up 34 points, in the end, there wasn’t enough time to get CMC the record. A player known for valuing team success over anything, the RB was a little disappointed he missed the mark.

“Yeah, I suck,” Christian McCaffrey said with a smirk after the game. “Everyone else on the team scored except for me. No, that means a lot to me for them to keep me in at the end of the game there and try to get me that record. But, hey, I’ll take a huge win.”

#49ers Christian McCaffrey issues apology after not breaking record 😭 pic.twitter.com/ryRwwxjalq

— 𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙎𝙁𝙉𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙧𝙨 (@TheSFNiners) November 12, 2023

To their credit, the 49ers tried their very best to get McCaffrey the record, keeping him on the field when the ball game was already decided. After the offense marched down the field on the second to last possession, the team ran four straight plays for him to get into the endzone from a few years out. Unfortunately, they couldn’t get it done, turning the ball over on downs after an out route to McCaffrey couldn’t be completed for six.

But that’s okay for coach Kyle Shanahan, more worried that his star player would get banged up in garbage time. The coach risked it, however, wanting to get his player into the record books forever.

“Eighteen games in a row is a big record,” Shanahan said. “So, if we had a chance to do that, I was going to try to do it for him. It’s a little nerve-racking. The last thing I wanted to do is get him hurt…I wish we could have done it for him, but I think that was a pretty big accomplishment just to do it for 17 games straight.”

San Francisco had a chance to get Christian McCaffrey his record on the previous drive as well, marching down near the red zone. Then, the offense ran a vertical play, putting all weapons near the goal line up the seams. Quarterback Brock Purdy saw a wide-open Kyle Juszczyk streaking open, firing a dart to the fullback for six.

Then they all realized that that was the chance to get CMC his TD.

But McCaffrey understands, especially with Juszczyk getting paydirt for only the 16th time in his career.

"Juice really wanted me to score, unless, he could score." — McCaffrey 😂 pic.twitter.com/ewYXUluF4k

— 49ers on NBCS (@NBCS49ers) November 12, 2023

Purdy and the rest of the offense were a little disappointed though, hoping to get one more crack at it for their teammate.

“Well after the touchdown to Juice, I sort of felt bad,” Purdy said. “We came off the sideline and guys were talking about it like, ‘Ah, man.’ I’m like ‘Dang it.’ I was mad. Obviously, we scored a touchdown, that’s the biggest thing. Then the next drive we were like, ‘Let’s drive for Christian and try to get him a touchdown, this is huge.’

“So at the end, man, we all wanted it for him. Every guy on this team wanted it for Christian and then obviously Christian wants it more than anybody.”

But that’s okay, according to the RB, always valuing team success over individual success.

On the season, Christian McCaffrey has over 1000 yards from scrimmage and 13 total touchdowns in nine games played. He lets the NFL in rushing yards this season (747).

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