Christian McCaffrey shines vs former Panthers, leads 49ers to Monday night victory

Christian McCaffrey faced his former Carolina Panthers squad for the first time since his exchange to the San Francisco ers in The All-Pro running back powered San Francisco to a - achievement on Monday Night Football finding the end zone and leading both teams in total yards from scrimmage The ers - are now firmly in the NFC playoff picture while the Panthers - missed a chance to take sole possession of the NFC South lead CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS COMWhile McCaffrey shined on the primetime stage it was a rough night for both quarterbacks Brock Purdy who threw three touchdowns in his return the previous week struggled with turnovers tossing three interceptions on consecutive possessions in the first half San Francisco opened strong with a -play -yard touchdown drive capped by Purdy s short pass to Jauan Jennings who fought through three Panthers defenders to total But after a quick Panthers three-and-out Purdy s first pass on the next series was picked off by Jaycee Horn giving Carolina the ball at the San Francisco -yard line ERS VOID GUARANTEED MONEY IN BRANDON AIYUK'S CONTRACT FOR SEASON AFTER BIZARRE SITUATION REPORTSBut this night wasn t just about Purdy s turnovers Young had a few issues as well On first-and-goal from the Young appeared to have room to run toward the pylon but he instead tried a pass to tight end Mitchell Evans Ji Ayir Brown was right there to snag the interception in the end zone and bail out Purdy for his earlier mistake Unfortunately for San Francisco Purdy was picked off by Mike Jackson in the opposite end zone when he tried to find Ricky Pearsall for a touchdown The track was read perfectly by the veteran cornerback Upon replay tight end George Kittle appeared wide open and might have scored with a short pass but Purdy was looking for the big play on the throw Then Purdy was really kicking himself after Horn secured his second interception of the competition a savvy play as he roamed free in the middle of the field and Purdy solely didn t see him on a pass intended for Pearsall The Panthers eventually got points on the board after a field goal cut the deficit to - It was only - at halftime but the ers definitively got McCaffrey into the end zone in the third quarter against his former crew His -yard touchdown run capped a -play -yard drive by San Francisco where the star back got key blocks from Kittle and fullback Kyle Juszczyk to reach the end zone McCaffrey finished the meeting with rushing yards and seven catches for yards The Panthers weren t perfectly out of the meeting despite the - deficit thanks to rookie receiver Tetairoa McMillan hauling in a -yard strike from Young with seconds left in the third quarter to make it a - challenge after a failed two-point conversion The ers created particular separation after adding another field goal but the Panthers still had plenty of time in the fourth quarter to make things compelling Unfortunately for them Brown jumped a course across the middle intended for McMillan and Young threw it right to him The interception virtually iced the championship as Ryan Fitzgerald missed a -yard field goal with left in the fourth quarter during the Panthers desperate attempt to get points Looking at the box amount Kittle led the tournament with yards on six catches while Jennings finished with yards on five grabs For the Panthers Rico Dowdle Chuba Hubbard and Young combined for just rushing yards though Dowdle had four catches for yards Hubbard added four catches for yards Follow Fox News Digital s sports coverage on X and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter