The San Francisco 49ers' Super Bowl hopes hinge heavily on the health of Christian McCaffrey, who suffered a calf injury in their New Year's Eve victory over the Washington Commanders.

But McCaffrey could hardly have picked a better time to sustain what the Niners believe is a minor injury, the star running back and Offensive Player of the Year favorite suffering a blow to his calf as the 49ers clinched the one seed in the NFC. San Francisco will have a bye and homefield advantage throughout the postseason.

McCaffrey, who spent most of the second half on the sideline as Elijah Mitchell filled in admirably, will now surely have two weeks off. Kyle Shanahan conceded after the game that the 49ers will rest some starters against the Los Angeles Rams in Week 18, and McCaffrey appears likely to be among the group that sits out.

"We think he'll be alright," Shanahan said of McCaffrey. "I don't know if he would have been able to go next week or not. We'll have to find out more tomorrow. He was moving around alright on the sidelines, hoping it's not too bad."

Given how valuable McCaffrey is to the 49er offense in both the run game and the passing game, it's impossible to envision a scenario in which they play him in a meaningless game coming off an injury.

San Francisco will almost certainly prioritize having their tailback in peak condition for the Divisional Round of the playoffs, when his versatility and devastating impact will be most important.

There has been a lot of debate this season over the 49ers' usage of McCaffrey and whether they have leant on him too heavily. His workload finally caught up with him at the end of 2023, but he and the Niners are extremely fortunate that the Cardinals' assist means the injury likely won't have any influence on San Francisco's Super Bowl prospects.

49ers’ Super Bowl hopes get huge boost from division rival

They can enjoy some time off.