Dan Campbell is aware that the Detroit Lions will need to make some difficult choices this weekend in order to contain the San Francisco 49ers’ offensive power.
With a well-rounded offensive line, the 49ers have stormed to the top of the NFC seeding chart. This week, running back Christian McCaffrey will be facing his club in the conference championship game on Sunday. Defense has been a problem for the Lions at times throughout the regular season, and Campbell stated that if they hope to win the Super Bowl, they must play at their highest level.
Lions Worried About Christian McCaffrey
The 27-year-old McCaffrey had a career-best season for the 49ers, rushing for a league-leading 1,459 yards with 14 touchdowns and adding 564 receiving yards with seven touchdowns. His 2,023 all-purpose yards and 21 total touchdowns also led the NFL.
Campbell said his team will need to focus on stopping the All-Pro running back, but knows that the 49ers and coach Kyle Shanahan can find other ways to burn their defense.
“Stop the run. Still the run,” Campbell said, via SI.com. “You got to stop the run, because if you don’t, they’ll rush for 250 on you and then they won’t even worry about passing.”
“Everything has to start there. And yes, that’s what Shanahan does an unbelievable job of — he’s going to work one side and make you overreact. And then he counters off of it and then play passes off of it and it works the middle of the field,” Campbell continued. “So, you got your hands full in both regards, you know?”
The Lions will be facing McCaffrey at full health. Though some concerns were raised when the broadcast of San Francisco’s divisional-round win over the Green Bay Packers showed McCaffrey having his quad worked on by trainers, Shanahan said this week that there are no injury concerns.
“No, I heard about that on the TV [broadcast] because some of my family members asked me about it,” Shanahan said, via Pro Football Talk. “But that’s just what Christian to me always does. He’s always working on his body and stuff. I was told nothing about his quad.”
