By Ben Church, CNN

(CNN) — Christian McCaffrey enjoyed a big night after helping the San Francisco 49ers to a 20-9 victory over his former team, the Carolina Panthers, on Monday Night Football.

The running back joined the Niners back in 2022, but this was his first time facing the team that drafted him back in 2017.

McCaffrey, though, seemed relaxed about the night and set about leading his current team to a much-needed win. The 29-year-old stood out as he gained 142 total yards and scored a touchdown as he went about his business as usual.

“When it comes to playing in this league, you have to approach each week as similar as possible, stay in your routine,” McCaffrey told reporters after the game. “You can’t get too far outside of what’s normal for you.

“Obviously, when you see familiar faces, it’s always good to see them before the game and after the game. But that’s a completely new team than when I was there, so it’s really just business once the ball was snapped.”

While the 49ers may have won the game, the contest wasn’t pretty at times. San Francisco made multiple errors in the first half, exemplified in part by an underwhelming performance from quarterback Brock Purdy.

Purdy was intercepted three times in the first half – which Carolina’s offense squandered, scoring only three points off the turnovers – but the signal-caller refused to blame a recent toe injury for his poor display.

“It’s just the execution of throwing a better ball. I feel like on really all of them, I needed to just drive the ball a little bit more. I kept it up in the air too long on multiple of them,” Purdy – who threw 23-of-32 for 193 yards, a touchdown and the three picks – told reporters.

While things weren’t exactly clicking for the Niners, they once again leaned on McCaffrey to get them over the line. The ninth-year veteran finished with 89 yards rushing and 53 receiving as San Francisco improved its record to 8-4 for the season.

With his receiving performance, McCaffrey became just the third running back in league history to have over 50 yards in the air in at least 50 career games, along with Larry Centers (55) and Marshall Faulk (50), according to NFL Research.

The Panthers, meanwhile, failed to capitalize on their opponents’ early struggles with quarterback Bryce Young – who threw 18-of-29 for 169 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions – blaming a “lack of execution.”

“Couple of plays I’d like to have back, some stuff we could do better. Not what we wanted. We didn’t do good enough and I take ownership of that,” Young said, per the Associated Press.

Frustrations boil over

Frustrations seemed to bubble over at the end of the game, with Panthers safety Tre’Von Moehrig seen hitting San Francisco receiver Jauan Jennings in the groin during the closing moments.

Jennings responded by striking Moehrig in the head at the end of the game, before he was held back by his own team.

“The guy took a cheap shot and hit him in the (groin). I was real proud of Jauan for not losing his mind out there,” Niners head coach Kyle Shanahan said postgame.

“I was just responding to some childish behavior,” Jennings said afterwards, while Moehrig said he initially hit out due to Jennings’ physical play throughout the game.

Moehrig, though, acknowledged he might be fined for his actions.

CNN Sports has reached out to the NFL for comment about the incident.

According to the NFL, the 49ers now have an 86% chance of making the playoffs, while the defeat means the Panthers now have just a 14% chance of reaching the postseason, despite sitting just half a game back of first in the NFC South.

The-CNN-Wire
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