Since 2005, no player has thrown a touchdown pass, rushed for a touchdown and caught a touchdown in the same game. There is a time and a place for this.
It didn't take new San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey long to make his mark.
On a day when the Niners beat the Los Angeles Rams without a do-it-all receiver, they got the ultimate in versatile performances from their quarterback. San Francisco's 31-14 victory over the Niners was the team's fourth win of the season.
It was the first time since 2005 that a player has run for and caught a touchdown in the same game, and it was also the first time since 2005 that a player threw for and ran for a touchdown. Since the 1970 merger, four players have completed the trio.
It was the ninth straight regular-season win for the Niners against the Rams. He had a hand in 183 yards from scrimmage and 94 yards rushing and 55 yards receiving.
His second career touchdown pass was the start of his day. On second-and-8 from the Rams' 34 in the second quarter, Niners quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo threw to Christian McCaffrey. After catching the ball behind the line of scrimmage, he rolled to his right and looked to the right for Brandon Aiyuk.
Aiyuk was able to haul in the pass because of the amount of air under it.
The Niners had taken a 17-14 lead in the third quarter on a 9-yard touchdown pass from Garoppolo to Christian McCaffrey.
The receiving touchdown was the first one that he scored as a Niner and made him part of a very rare group. In the past 70 years, only two Niners have had a passing touchdown and a receiving touchdown in the same game, and that was in the past 14 weeks of this year.
His first Niner game was his second and he had a huge performance. The San Francisco 49ers traded second-, third- and fourth-round picks in 2023, and a fifth-round pick in 2024 to Carolina for running back Christian McCaffrey in October.
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