The 49ers tailback is truly a cut above his counterparts, accounting for 2,100 yards from scrimmage and 21 total touchdowns in a year that cemented his status as one of the greatest running backs in league history.
McCaffrey is an impressive talent, turning short runs into marathons with his impressive field vision. When he gets the ball in the flat or out in the open field, he’s electric; McCaffrey averaged 5.4 yards per carry, the best among RBs and second-best in the league behind Lamar Jackson’s 5.5.
McCaffrey is a force of nature once he gets the ball in his grasp, but he’s not the only weapon San Francisco possesses.
Between Deebo Samuel, Brandon Aiyuk, Nick Bosa, Fred Warner, and Chase Young, San Francisco has a whole cadre of marquee players capable of taking over a game at a moment’s notice. That’s not to mention QB Brock Purdy, who looked like a real candidate for MVP before the regular season’s final few games.
The 49ers are a buzzsaw, and save for a few shock results here and there, they’ve blasted right through anyone.
So, who gets the misfortune of meeting one of football’s most complete teams in the next round of the postseason? Here’s what you need to know.
Who do the 49ers play next?
San Francisco earned the top seed in the NFC this year after stringing together a conference-best 12-5 record.
As such, the 49ers have four possible opponents they can face when the dust settles on the NFC’s wild-card round: the Buccaneers, Eagles, Rams, and Packers.
Certain matchups are conditional, based on the results of each of the other wild-card matchups. Here’s the skinny on what would need to happen for each of these matchups to materialize.
Buccaneers
San Fran would host fourth-seeded Tampa Bay in the divisional round if the Bucs defeated the fifth-seeded Eagles and the sixth-seeded Rams and seventh-seeded Packers fell to the third-seeded Lions and second-seeded Cowboys, respectively.
Tampa limped into the postseason with an ugly 9-0 win over the Panthers, the worst team in the league, during Week 18. At just 9-8, it was far from a classic season for the Bucs, who received strong play from quarterback Baker Mayfield (4,044 yards, 28 touchdowns) but struggled in the run game and defensively at different points in the year.
The 49ers and Buccaneers met at Levi’s Stadium back in Week 11. Things didn’t go well for Tampa, which totaled just 14 points while surrendering a 21-of-25, 333-yard, three-touchdown showcase by Brock Purdy en route to a resounding 27-14 defeat.
Perhaps things have changed in the weeks since, but the Bucs haven’t shown themselves to be capable of consistently beating good teams. They were just 1-5 against playoff teams in 2023. San Francisco is by far the cream of the crop in the conference. As such, the Niners would almost certainly be favored heavily if this matchup were to come to fruition.
Eagles
The 49ers would duel with the No. 5-seeded Eagles if Philadelphia were to vanquish the No. 4-seeded Buccaneers away from home and the No. 6-seeded Rams and No. 7-seeded Packers were defeated by the No. 3-seeded Lions and No. 2-seeded Cowboys, respectively.
Such results would set up a rematch of last year’s NFC Championship. Back then, it was Philadelphia that proved more complete, taking advantage of some unfortunate San Francisco injury luck to hoist the conference trophy. This time around, though, it could prove an entirely different story.
The 49ers kicked lumps out of the Eagles in their first matchup this season, boat-racing San Francisco 42-19 in a wire-to-wire beatdown in Week 13. Philly hasn’t looked much better in the weeks since their defeat, dropping matchups to non-playoff opposition the Seahawks, Cardinals, and Giants before the end of the year.
The Eagles have plenty of talent across skill areas of the field, but that talent hasn’t been particularly effective amid their spell of poor form. Couple that with injuries to A.J. Brown (knee) and Jalen Hurts (finger), and you could have a recipe for disaster for Philly, even if it does make it out of the wild-card round.
Rams
The 49ers would clash with the No. 6-seeded Rams if Los Angeles was to defeat the No. 3-seeded Lions and No. 7-seeded Packers were to fall to the No. 2-seeded Cowboys.
The Rams and Niners are well-versed in facing off against one another, having done so twice a season since what feels like the dawn of time.
Although Los Angeles’ 10-7 record pales in comparison to that of its fellow divisional heavyweight, there’s reason to believe that the Rams could prove one of the toughest teams that San Francisco could compete with come the second round.
Los Angeles has plenty of experience, having lifted the Lombardi Trophy not even two years ago. Aaron Donald, Matthew Stafford, and Cooper Kupp form a menacing triumvirate axis of evil already hardened by the frigid cold of a lengthy playoff run. Puka Nacua and Kyren Williams offer additional specks of brilliance to exacerbate the problem for opposition sides.
Although the Niners were able to handle L.A. in both of its tilts this season, one was a matchup between backups in Week 18 while the other was a hard-fought, seven-point defeat in Week 2 when the Rams were still without Cooper Kupp. Be wary of the horns.
Packers
Lastly, San Francisco could see the No. 7-seeded Packers in the divisional round if Green Bay were to upset No. 2-seeded Dallas.
Jordan Love has been a breath of fresh air in Green Bay’s pocket, racking up 4,159 yards and 32 touchdowns in his first year as a starter. Aaron Jones has also returned to form in recent weeks, piling up 358 yards on more than 5.0 yards a carry over the past three games.
Still, the Niners look like the better squad top to bottom. San Francisco is brimming with starlight, from the team’s offensive line to its secondary.
Green Bay, for all of its huffing and puffing, just doesn’t possess the top-line talent that SF does. In the trenches — a place where the Niners have a rather sizable advantage — that could prove deadly.
Love will need time to showcase his impressive arm. More often than not, that’s one resource that isn’t in abundance when facing Nick Bosa, Chase Young, Javon Kinlaw, Fred Warner, and the rest of that harrowing Gold Rush front seven.
