Maiocco: No Deebo, no problem for CMC-led 49ers vs. Rams

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The two most important regular-season games the 49ers have played over the past two-and-a-half years have come against the Los Angeles Rams at SoFi Stadium.

And each game required a phenomenal all-around offensive effort from one individual for the 49ers to pull off the victory.

Wide receiver Deebo Samuel did it all in the 49ers’ Week 18 win over the Rams to wrap up an NFL playoff spot last season.

The 49ers did not have Samuel on Sunday.

Fortunately for coach Kyle Shanahan, he had running back Christian McCaffrey to fill that all-everything void in the 49ers’ offense.

McCaffrey did it all ... and then some.

“You could see that he's very comfortable with some of the different things that they were asking of him,” Rams coach Sean McVay said of McCaffrey following the 49ers’ 31-14 victory.

“I thought Kyle did a great job of being able to utilize him.”

And the 49ers used him in every imaginable way.

McCaffrey, whom the 49ers acquired for four draft picks just 10 days earlier in a trade with the Carolina Panthers, helped the 49ers tie the score in the second quarter with a 34-yard touchdown pass to Brandon Aiyuk. McCaffrey made the throw after he he caught a backward pass from Jimmy Garoppolo along the right side.

Then, McCaffrey came down with a leaping 9-yard touchdown catch in the back-right corner of the end zone. That off-schedule third-quarter play gave the 49ers their first lead of the game.

When Garoppolo was asked where McCaffrey was in his progression, he did not even know the answer because McCaffrey never figured into his pre-snap thinking.

“Five? I mean, I don't know,” Garoppolo said. “That wasn't really how it was scripted.”

The 49ers and McCaffrey got back on script early in the fourth quarter when he scored on a 1-yard rushing touchdown to extend his team’s lead to 24-14.

McCaffrey finished his remarkable day with 94 yards and a touchdown on 18 rushing attempts; 1-for-1 passing for 34 yards and a touchdown; and eight receptions for 55 yards and a touchdown.

And the 49ers needed every bit of McCaffrey’s production because Samuel, the ultimate Rams slayer, was unavailable because of a hamstring injury.

This was a huge victory for the 49ers because they are now 4-4 after the season sweep of the Rams. They are in favorable position for the last of seven playoff spots in the NFC with nine games remaining.

The situation last season was even more dire, as the 49ers had to defeat the Rams in the final week of the regular season to qualify for the playoffs.

Samuel dominated that game, as the 49ers rallied from a 17-0 deficit.

RELATED: Grading 49ers' offense, defense in dominant win over Rams

Samuel had eight rushing attempts for 45 yards and a touchdown. His 24-yard touchdown pass to Jauan Jennings pulled the 49ers even in the third quarter. Samuel also added four receptions for 95 yards in the 49ers’ 27-24 overtime victory.

Now, McCaffrey is fully ingrained in the 49ers’ offense. Samuel will be back following the bye.

Those two players give the 49ers two of the most unique offensive players in the NFL and a lot of options for the second half of the season.

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