And to think Christian McCaffrey was the guy everyone was worried about. After having his 2024 season ruined by bilateral Achilles tendinitis and a PCL strain, there was plenty of concern whether McCaffrey's football age was more than his biological age of 29. Surely it was time to start sharing the load and reduce the carries and receptions to maximize whatever he had left to give.
Jahmyr Gibbs was offered oxygen on the bench after a 78-yard run. He turned it down. Clearly, he was not out of breath. Gibbs scored on a long sprint in the second quarter, a five-yard spinning plunge in the third and accounted for a career-high 218 yards from scrimmage to lead the Detroit Lions in a 24-9 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday night.
SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- After another physical, grind-it-out win against the Los Angeles Rams last week, San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey stood at a podium with a big grin on his face. For a fifth straight week, the Niners' run game had struggled to get going and again failed to post a rushing touchdown. McCaffrey's smile was rooted in one eye-opening statistic: The 2025 Niners are the second team in the past 90 years to not score a rushing touchdown in the opening five weeks and still start 4-1 or better.
Every recent first-round draft pick on the offensive side of the ball played a major role in their win this weekend. Quarterback Michael Penix Jr. had his best game of the season, throwing for 313 yards and two TDs on the way to a 126 quarterback rating. Wide receiver Drake London and tight end Kyle Pitts had season-highs in receiving yards while each catching a touchdown. And of course, running back Bijan Robinson had 181 scrimmage yards and a TD.