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49ers stars celebrate selfless wide receiver blocking in film session originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
SANTA CLARA – Brock Purdy perfectly set the stage Thursday for what it was like the first time the entire 49ers team watched Christian McCaffrey’s 65-yard touchdown run against the Pittsburgh Steelers in San Francisco’s 30-7 Week 1 win.
Except the 49ers quarterback wasn’t describing McCaffrey’s spin move into the open field. He wasn’t praising the running back’s acceleration down the left sideline or how he was weaving in and out of the defense and into the end zone. Purdy was speaking to blocks by wide receivers Brandon Aiyuk and Ray-Ray McCloud during McCaffrey’s highlight-reel touchdown.
“Yeah, yeah, it was awesome,” Purdy said. “The first time we watched it, everybody’s … you know the sounds that they make. B.A.’s block first, everyone was going crazy about that.”
Aiyuk, after being pushed at the line of scrimmage, sprinted alongside McCaffrey, found Steelers safety Damontae Kazee and leveled him to the ground. Aiyuk stayed in stride the whole time and kept sprinting down the field with the 49ers running back.
That’s when McCloud’s smarts came into play. The veteran receiver didn’t need to be as physical as Aiyuk, yet was equally effective.
“And then Ray-Ray coming, running around the corner, you could see Ray-Ray starting to run and then everyone’s like hyping him up and when he made his block, everyone was going crazy,” Purdy said.
McCloud somehow caught up to veteran Steelers cornerback Patrick Peterson, stayed in front of him the whole time and brought the three-time All-Pro down to the ground as McCaffrey ran in for six points.
McCaffrey carried the ball 22 times for 152 yards, his most in a 49ers uniform. The 49ers totaled 188 rushing yards on the day, which was 147 more than the Steelers. Aiyuk already had caught two touchdowns before propelling McCaffrey and decleating a Steelers defender. McCloud didn’t have a…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/49ers-stars-celebrate-selfless-wide-195743536.html?src=rss
Author : NBC Sports BayArea
Publish date : 2023-09-15 19:57:43
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