Shanahan details 49ers’ efforts to secure McCaffrey record-breaking TD

Shanahan details 49ers’ efforts to secure McCaffrey record-breaking TD

A captivating story from the 49ers’ 34-3 victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars was Kyle Shanahan’s determined efforts to secure Christian McCaffrey a record-breaking touchdown in a game that was already well out of reach in the second half.

During an interview with Greg Papa for NBC Sports Bay Area’s “49ers Game Plan,” Shanahan described the entire team’s dedication to giving McCaffrey a chance to make history in the NFL, laughingly implicating George Kittle for stealing a scoring opportunity with his 66-yard touchdown reception.

“It’s unbelievably significant. It’s not something you ever think about, until these last couple weeks it kind of hit me,” Shanahan said. “He scored earlier in games, so you forget about it pretty quick. If we’re going to get down there with that record and stuff, we were going to give him a shot. But I blame [George] Kittle for scoring from too far out. Should have taken a knee at the one.”

Kittle wasn’t the only player to take blame from Shanahan, as he jokingly named fullback Kyle Juszczyk as the one that prevented the record from being broken.

“We wanted to get it for him badly,” Shanahan explained. “We wouldn’t have even thought about that if we were going for yards in one game, going for score, going for something like that. But for a record that takes over two years to even have an attempt to do. To be the first guy to do it? We were going to give him every shot.

“I actually sat there and tried to do the math. I was like, alright, he’s probably touched the ball over 200 times this year; the only time he’s gotten hurt is when he wasn’t touching the ball. So what are the percentages if I give him five more touches of him getting hurt? Those percentages are a lot lower than the percentages of how he’s going to feel about me and this whole team if I don’t give him a chance. So I rolled the dice with that. Unfortunately, we didn’t get in, but it wasn’t for a lack of trying.”

owning a share of the NFL record for most consecutive games with a touchdown. His 23 touchdowns over a 17-game span are remarkable, accompanied by a 13-4 record for the 49ers during that time.

With the upcoming match against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, McCaffrey can focus on starting another streak of dominance.

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John Smith

ohn Smith is your NFL insider, providing in-depth coverage of football’s biggest league. With a passion for the game and a keen eye for statistics, John delivers game analysis, player profiles, and breaking news to keep readers updated on all things NFL.