3) Which running back will blast off?
Saturday will mark the fourth playoff matchup all time between the previous two AP Offensive Player of the Year winners: Saquon Barkley won in 2024, Christian McCaffrey in 2023.
McCaffrey has been the 49ers’ workhorse, leading the NFL with 413 touches this season, 44 more than any other player (Jonathan Taylor, 369). Returning from last season’s injury, McCaffrey generated 1,202 rushing yards on 311 totes. The concern for the Niners’ rushing attack has been consistency. McCaffrey generated just 3.9 yards per carry, the lowest in his career since his rookie campaign (3.7). The splash runs have been few and far between, with CMC earning just 11 rushes of 15-plus yards and three over 20 yards.
The best all-purpose weapon in football is a matchup nightmare. His 924 receiving yards on 102 catches gave McCaffrey 2,126 scrimmage yards this season, second in the NFL (Bijan Robinson, 2,298). CMC generated 12 games with 100-plus scrimmage yards, tied for the most in the NFL (James Cook), and 10 games with 100-plus scrimmage yards and at least one touchdown (most in the NFL). Philly allowed 639 receiving yards to running backs, seventh-most in the NFL, so expect Brock Purdy to look for CMC often on Sunday.
Meanwhile, Barkley, coming off a 2,005-yard 2024 season, didn’t earn a Pro Bowl nod as the Eagles offense was stuck in the mud. The dynamo generated 1,140 rushing yards on 280 carries (4.1 YPC) with seven touchdowns. The big difference this season is that the massive runs have been absent from the offense. In 2024, Barkley earned 17 rushes of 20-plus yards and a whopping seven of 40-plus. In 2025, he had just four rushes of 20-plus yards and three going 40 or more yards. Part of the lack of explosives has been play-calling, and another is blocking concerns, with linemen not getting to the second level as regularly as they were a year ago.
Like many backs who lead the league in carries, as Barkley did a year ago with 345, things started slowly. From Weeks 1-13, the RB averaged 61.7 rushing yards per game, 3.7 yards per carry on 16.5 totes per tilt. However, he’s found a groove in recent weeks. Over his past four games, Barkley has averaged 100.0 yards on 20.5 carries per game for a 4.9 yards per carry average. With Lane Johnson and others along the Eagles’ line hopefully healthier, we could see a return of 2024 Barkley in the 2025 playoffs.
