Having already clinched the NFC and the No. 1 seed, the San Francisco 49ers decided to rest at least one of their stars in Sunday’s final game of the regular season against the Los Angeles Rams. Superstar running back Christian McCaffrey will miss the final game of the regular season after suffering a mild calf strain in Sunday’s win over the Washington Commander, 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan announced Tuesday. However, Shanahan expressed optimism that McCaffrey will return to the playoffs after San Francisco and a first-round bye. We are very sure of that,and Shanahan told reporters. andquot;That was good news. It could have been a lot worse. We are happy they are taking care of him this week and hopefully our week off will start In his first full season with the 49ers, McCaffrey was nearly unstoppable.
The former Carolina Panthers defensive end leads the league by a huge margin with 1,459 passing yards and 14 touchdowns and 564 yards and seven touchdowns as a receiver. McCaffrey’s 2,023 yards from scrimmage are the most in the NFL this season, and he is both an offensive Player of the Year candidate and a dark horse MVP candidate. It remains to be seen if the rest of the 49ers’ stars will follow McCaffrey’s lead on Sunday, but with almost nothing left to play for, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the rest. While the Rams have also locked up a spot in the playoffs, they have a little more to play for in terms of seeding.
They currently ranked 6th but could drop to 7th with a loss and a Green Bay Packers win. Rams coach Sean McVay called it an “opportunity”; they could rest the starters but haven’t said definitively yet. The Rams and 49ers kick off at Leviand’s Stadium at 4:25 p.m. ET (1:25 a.m. local time)
