49ers' Christian McCaffrey dunks on Eagles during Manningcast
Christian McCaffrey played a huge role in the San Francisco 49ers embarrassing the Philadelphia Eagles last month, and on Monday he made the Niners' arch rivals look silly again without even being on the field. McCaffrey demonstrated his acumen for predicting plays during the Eagles' Monday Night Football loss to the Seattle Seahawks, which further […]
Christian McCaffrey played a huge role in the San Francisco 49ers embarrassing the Philadelphia Eagles last month, and on Monday he made the Niners' arch rivals look silly again without even being on the field.
McCaffrey demonstrated his acumen for predicting plays during the Eagles' Monday Night Football loss to the Seattle Seahawks, which further cemented the 49ers' grip on the NFC's one seed.
The do-it-all running back, who is third in the odds for the MVP behind 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy and Baltimore Ravens signal-caller Lamar Jackson, was a guest on the Manningcast and was almost perfect in his guess when he called his shot and forecasted what play was coming from Philadelphia during the second quarter purely based on alignment.
"Jalen Hurts is running a QB draw to the left. Tight end's gonna pull… tight end's deep, so he's sifting backside," said McCaffrey.
McCaffrey got every detail right, save for one, Hurts ran to the right.
Eagles fans on social media took McCaffrey's extremely accurate projection as evidence of the predictability of their play-calling under offensive coordinator Brian Johnson.
A more reasonable explanation for McCaffrey's impressive predictive powers is that he is familiar with the play from running it with the 49ers and during his previous spell with the Carolina Panthers, who frequently called such plays when Cam Newton was quarterback.
While many saw it as a bad look for the Eagles, in reality it was just an excellent demonstration of the recall NFL players have, and it was such an impressive example that even Peyton Manning appeared to be impressed by McCaffrey's accuracy.
The 49er defense won't need McCaffrey's help to prepare for the Eagles should they face off again in the postseason. Still, if they do renew acquaintances, at least one person on the San Francisco sideline will have an idea of when a quarterback draw is coming.
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